Twisted Hearts
by rosemusic20
Summary: By some twist of fate, Elsa didn't flip out at the prospects of Anna and Hans' marriage. But, what happens when Elsa find herself confronting feelings for her sister's betrothed? Is Hans really in love with her, or is it just another part of his plot to steal the throne? Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1- Those Eyes

_**Hi, **_

_**So I'm kind of new to this fandom.**_

_**In this story, Elsa somehow magically allows Hans and Anna to get married.**_

_**Erm, I don't own Frozen. Yeah so, I hope you like it. :)**_

"Elsa," Anna knocked gently on the large door to her sister's bedroom. "I have a question."

Elsa sat, hunched over the paper work on her desk, struggling to write properly while wearing cloves. She looked up from her work, dipping the quill into the ink. "What is it Anna?"

Since her coronation, Elsa had been less reserved in her relationship with Anna, but to her sister's dismay, she still spent the majority of her time hauled away in her bedroom, working on her royal duties.

"It's about my wedding." Anna began.

Elsa groaned. "Anna, I don't have time for this." She walked slowly over to the door and swung it partially open, poking her head out a little. "I have to finish this communique by noon and then give it to Weasleton's diplomat."

"It will only take a minute." Anna insisted, she shivered when a cold gust of wind blew out of the bedroom. "Jeez, it's cold in there. Do you want me to tell Gerda?"

"No!" Elsa said quickly. "I mean, no. I am fine, thank you."

What Anna still didn't know, what she couldn't know, was that the reason Elsa's room was so cold was not because the maid had forgotten to turn up the heat. Beyond the heavy door the walls were caked with frost.

"Okay, okay. No need to get all hot-headed." Anna pouted for a brief moment before reacquiring her cheery demeanor. "But listen Elsa, I just wanted to thank you again for everything. I mean I can't believe I am getting married. And to a prince no less. I mean, Hans is perfect. He's gentle, kind, generous, so good with people, a great kiss-."

"Thank you for that information Anna." Elsa interrupted her. "But I think I should get back to work."

"Fine, fine, fine. I understand." Anna frowned and backed away from the door. "See you at dinner." She cried as Elsa shut the door.

On the other side of the closed door, Elsa exhaled deeply and leaned up against the door. It had been another close call. She loved seeing her sister more often, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult to hide her powers, especially with the impending wedding. In a matter of days, Elsa knew she would lose her sister again, this time for good to the practically perfect prince who had been sauntering around the castle for the last week.

It irritated her how protective she felt over her sister, but everything that Hans did seemed like a red flag to Elsa; the way he was a bit to touchy-feely with Anna at the dinner table, the way he had pressured them to moving the wedding up by weeks at a time, the way that he avoided talking about his past and kingdom at all costs. He was mysterious and intriguing, in a way that did not suit Elsa's overly cautious, paranoid nature.

That night at dinner, Elsa cast her eyes down so as not to bear witness to the almost nauseating flirtations that were occurring on the other side of the table.

"Your majesty, are you alright?" Hans finally asked her.

"Oh, Hans." Anna said before Elsa could answer. "You don't have to call her 'your majesty'. You can call her Elsa. Can't he Elsa?"

Elsa looked up awkwardly and nodded, forcing a smile. "Of course Hans. You're family now." She said softly. Her eyes suddenly met Hans'. Her mouth fell open at the sight of the darkness behind him. They were filled with unanswered questions to the point that they were almost _enticing_.

Anna beamed. "See. I told you she likes you."

Han's eyes were still trained on the queen, who swallowed and tried to tear her gaze away. But she couldn't do it. She wanted so badly to know what was hidden or masked behind them that she couldn't bring herself to look away.

It was only the notion that he might be equally lost in her eyes as she was in his that cause her to blush and avert her eyes.

"Hans." Anna was saying. "You okay?" She jabbed him in the shoulder with her elbow.

Hans coughed himself out of his daze and nodded reassuringly. "Yes, Anna." He said, moving his hand to graze her cheek. "Thanks for asking, love." He leaned closer and kissed her.

Elsa watched as what started out as a soft innocent kiss turned into something much more heated. She felt her gloves rip under the stress of the ice that was now spreading from her fingertips. She grimaced, wiped her hands on her dress as if that would make a difference, and turned back to her food.

Anna finally managed to emerge from the kiss, panting a little, face bright red. She blinked and gulped, smiling sheepishly at Hans and then turning guiltily towards her sister. "Sorry, Elsa."

"It's fine." Elsa stood but didn't look back up, for fear of meeting that stare again. "I think I'm going to go upstairs."

"Come on Elsa, please stay. I'm sorry." Anna pleaded. "I know that you don't like public displays of affection."

"It's not that." Elsa glanced back and forth between Hans and Anna, careful not to let her eyes linger for too long on the man who was still a stranger to her. "It's just that-." The temperature dropped suddenly. "I have to go." She whipped around and raced out of the dining room, the train of her dress flying up behind her.

"Sorry about that Hans." She heard her sister say loud enough for her to hear. "She drives me crazy sometimes."

She continued down the hallway, trying to push that dark green, almost wicked, glare out of her mind. If she had been able to, she would be sweating profusely. She tried to take a deep breath as she ran, but the air seemed to be caught in her throat. Everything in her body ached to spit frost out all over the hallway. She squeezed her eyes shut, and thought of the words her father had forced into her mouth for all those years. _Conceal don't-._

Suddenly, she nearly ran straight into Gerda, who in effort to avoid collision, quickly stepped back and dropped a basket of cleaning supplies.

Elsa immediately knelt down and began hurriedly picking up the contents which were sprawled across the floor. She muttered an apology as she placed a dirty rag into the basket.

The maid joined her on the floor and gave her a questioning look. "Your majesty, is everything alright?"

"Yes." Elsa said firmly, though she could feel that her eyes were defying her voice.

"Very well." Gerda said picking up the basket and turning to walk down the hall. "Good night, your majesty."

"Wait Gerda." Elsa called. The maid spun around and gazed sympathetically at her. "Could you please have my meals sent to my room?"

Gerda raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow?"

"Indefinitely."

With that the queen turned and stormed off to her isolated bedroom. Once safely behind the door, she flopped onto the bed and let frost coat the sheets. She didn't ring for anyone to help her remove her dress and corset. She wanted to be alone. She flipped the light switch off and let her torn gloves fall to the floor. Finally she curled up into a ball under the covers and stared blankly at the ceiling, clutching her chest.

She felt a powerful, burning, almost painful heat bubbling from somewhere deep underneath her cool skin.

What had just happened?

-o-

What had just happened?

As Hans held out his arm to Anna, he couldn't stop thinking about that piercing stare. There were so many secrets hidden behind Elsa's crystal blue eyes. They were like bright sparkling bait, and he was the helpless, floundering fish caught by their power ready to…

He shook his head abruptly. What was he thinking? He needed to gain the trust of Elsa and find her weaknesses so that after the wedding he could immediately begin stage two of his plan. Elsa needed to be out of the picture if he was to obtain his throne. This was not the time to get caught up in her beauty, no matter how alluring it might be. Besides, he needed to focus on his actual fiancé, Anna.

"Goodnight Hans." Anna stood on her toes and kissed him lightly. "See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Anna." Hans brushed a piece of hair away from her cheek. "I love you."

Anna smiled and kissed him again, this time harder. Then she pulled away and gazed longingly at him before slipping away into her chambers.

Hans walked slowly down the hall, his hands resting in his jacket pockets. There was only candle light to guide him to his own room, but he was in no rush. He was far from tired.

For the past few nights, Hans had occupied himself with exploring every nook and cranny of the castle. So far he had snooped through the library, the servant's quarters, the long hall of guest rooms, and kitchen. He had still not managed to find where the queen slept, something that would be crucial in his plans to…

Hans was not a murderer. He prided himself on being able to get what he wanted without the use of violence. He still hadn't quite figured out how what sort of accident he would orchestrate for Elsa, but he had no plans of incriminating himself in the process.

He could help but feel a bit sorry for the queen, all alone, no one to comfort her, no one to tell her how beautiful she was. If she wasn't so damn stubborn he would have scooped her up in an instant. It would have been a hell of a lot easier than working up the nerve to dispose of her. He had chosen to stick with Anna, thinking it was the simple route, but he was starting to have second thoughts.

Hans sighed, knowing that now it was too late to win the affections of the pale and mysterious woman. Even if he did manage to get her to fall in love with him, he had already promised himself to Anna and Elsa would rather die than hurt her sister. That much he was sure of.

Suddenly he had a realization. His lips curved into an almost devilish grin.

Elsa would rather _die_ than hurt her sister.

**_Reviews would be lovely. I never know whether or not I should continue unless I get reviews. YERP._**

**_Ta ta for now. :)_**


	2. Chapter 2- The Library

**_This chapter is long, but with good reason. _**

After lying in bed, twisting and turning, and finding no sleep, Elsa finally gave up. She pushed herself out of bed and walked slowly over to her dresser to get another pair of gloves.

She peeked her head out the door to see that no one was there before stepping out into the dimly lit hallway. Still in her nightgown, she tiptoed down the corridor.

As she walked she found herself once again getting lost in thought. She couldn't help but think of the way Hans had stared at her with those dark green eyes of his. She knew she was dancing along the edge of dangerous waters, but she couldn't help but wonder what was hidden behind them. He had clearly been equally, if not more, trapped in her gaze as she was in his. The idea of him being lost in her sent shivers up her spine. No. Not shivers. More like sparks of fire coursing through her veins.

No. This was insane. Hans was marrying Anna. Elsa was not, in any way what so ever, drawn towards her sister's husband. Her exhaustion from the day's work was clearly impacting her ability to comprehend a situation.

Elsa stalked through the large heavy wooden doors into the library. The ceiling high shelves filled with books of all kinds gently separated her from her run away mind. Down the long aisle, books of all sorts waited at her beckon call, ready to whisk her away from her wreck of a life. Through her childhood, Elsa had always been able to count on the library, and the mountains of knowledge that it held on its shelves, to protect her from the outside world.

Elsa didn't even know what she was trying to escape from. She had barely talked to Hans. Aside from a few meals, their schedules were completely different, and he was primarily occupied during the day with his fiancé.

His _fiancé_,to whom he was _engaged_. He had promised to be loyal and faithful to Anna. Elsa knew that any signals she thought she may have received from him were most likely misconstrued. And it didn't matter anyway. Above all, Elsa would never, under any circumstances do anything that had even the slightest possibility of hurting her sister.

"Elsa."

Elsa whipped around to see a shadowy figure standing at the end of the long aisle of books. "Who are you?" She tried to mask the fear in her voice.

The face that emerged from the darkness was none other than the very Prince who had been plaguing her mind.

Elsa swallowed the breath that had just lodged itself in her throat. "Oh. Prince Hans. Goodness, you scared me." She forced a laugh.

Hans smiled warmly at her, and took a few steps closer. "I'm terribly sorry your majesty."

"Elsa." She corrected him.

"Elsa." He continued to approach her. "Forgive me for asking but, what are you doing roaming about the castle alone at night in your nightgown."

She suddenly became painfully away of her appearance. She glanced down at her bare feet and silk pajamas, then glanced back up at Hans. "Couldn't sleep I supposed."

"Me neither." He offered. "I've been thinking about…"

As he trailed of, Elsa found herself desperately wanting to know what had been keeping him awake. Was it possible that he had been restless after the events of dinner as well? She shook her head. "No." She told herself, a little too loud.

"No, what?" Hans asked. He was now fully in sight, though there was still a shadow cast over his eyes. "Is everything alright, Elsa?"

"No. I mean- yes." Elsa stuttered. "Yes, I'm fine." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Good." Finally, he stepped forward enough that she could see his whole face, including those eyes. They bore straight through her, unrelenting.

"I should go." She said, but her body defied her words.

As if there was a magnetic force pulling him, the prince floated closer until his face was mere inches away from hers. He drew in a deep breath. Was he smelling her?

Her breath hitched, and she could feel her heart pounding.

He shivered.

Elsa's eyes widened. She hadn't realized it but the temperature had plummeted downwards. She did a double check around the room. To her relief, no frost had crept up the walls or across the floor. Yet. "I really should go."

"May I escort you to your chambers?" He held out an arm to her.

"No thank you Prince Hans." Finally regaining her composer, Elsa pulled away from him. "I fear Anna might not approve."

"Oh, right, yes." Hans seemed as if he had forgotten for a moment his fiancé. "Anna."

As she moved to walk past him, her shoulder brushed against his and she could her his breath catch. But she didn't turn back. She willed her neck not to twist around, knowing that if she caught those eyes again, she wouldn't be able to let go. "Good night, Prince Hans." She said in the coldest voice she could muster.

"Good night, Elsa." He seemed barely able to speak, his voice coming out in a sort of growl.

Elsa paused and closed her eyes for a moment, steadying her breath. Then she walked smoothly out of the library.

As soon as she got out the door, she broke into a run. She tried to push the questions out of her mind.

What was he doing in the library late at night? What was _she _doing in the library late at night? Why hadn't ice exploded from her toes? She hadn't even been wearing shoes. Why did he seem so _breathless_ at the sight of her? How had she regained her composure? What was hidden behind those eyes?

What? No. She didn't care what was behind those eyes. Elsa slammed her bedroom door shut behind her and slid down it. She heard that familiar crackle and whatever she had been concealing froze its way across the floor. She concluded that Hans' eyes were more frightening than they were inviting.

Elsa hoisted herself up off of the floor and scolded her runaway brain. She knew that if she wasn't careful she might end up in a very compromising situation.

-o-

He watched as her foot disappeared behind the door of her bedroom wondering how she hadn't realized he was following her.

Hans smiled to himself at how easy it had been2 to catch the normally calm and serene queen off guard. She was fragile, more fragile than he had originally thought.

He made his way gracefully over to the door, and pressed his ear up against it, straining to hear what was going on inside. He heard nothing but a soft…crackling?

Hans did a double take. Crackling? Why would there be crackling coming from the queen's room? It was like the crackling of a fire, but different. It almost sounded as if the walls themselves were cracking and breaking. He fought the urge to burst through the door to ensure that she was safe.

He didn't care if she was safe. He just didn't. The whole room could be bursting into flames, and it wouldn't matter at all to him. Better to have her die at the hands of the fire that at the hands of an overly ambitious prince.

Hans turned and began walking. His room was all the way on the other side of the castle, so he had plenty of time to process the events of the evening.

He wasn't going to kill Elsa. He could kill her, if he wanted to, if he was forced to, but he wanted to have a little fun first. He found himself inexplicably drawn towards her. When he neared her, he could feel his heart palpitating, he could feel shivers rushing down his spine. It was easy to tell that she felt something too from the way she had been unable to move, the way her breath caught.

A wave of excitement hit him at the thought of luring her to him, capturing her in his arms and pressing his warmth against her pale, cold skin, but he squashed it quickly. These things take time. Before pouncing and devouring, he first needed to gain the trust of his prey.

If his plan worked out, Elsa would be so torn between him and her sister that she would be forced to abandon Arendelle forever. Hans knew that it was risky, but it seemed to be the only non-violent way to get the queen out of the picture. He didn't want to have the scars of a murderer on his conscience once he was king. He would rather betray Anna then kill her mysterious beautiful sister.

If he was lucky, she wouldn't be mysterious for much longer. Hans knew he needed to take things slowly. He should wait until after the wedding to make his final move, that way his position as Anna's co-ruler would be set in stone. Yet, as he pictured her face in his mind, he almost rushed back to her bedroom and confessed passionate love right then. He didn't love her, but saying that he did would probably be the only way to convince her to reciprocate.

Hans arrived in his own bedroom. It was really quite lovely, a maroon and gold color scheme, with grand windows and a comfortable double bed. In the corner there was a desk filled with ink, quills, and parchment. He had always shared a room with his brother so having all these things to himself was a pleasant change of pace.

He slowly began to change into his pajamas. Normally, he would have rang for assistance, but it was a bit too late at night for that now. He didn't want to wake anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. He was about to get into bed when there was a knock at the door.

"Who's there?" He asked as he opened it.

Outside stood a boy holding a letter. He was a scrawny kid, with scruffy red hair and freckles. He smiled. "I'm Stanley, the castle delivery boy. Are you…" He glanced at the envelope in his hand. "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles?"

"Yes, I am." Hans yawned. "May I ask, why you are delivering this at such a late hour?"

"Well, I was asleep in the stables and this man in a dark hood came in and woke me up and he said that this letter was so urgent that it absolutely had to be delivered right away. He also said that you probably wouldn't be asleep and I see he was right. You don't look like you've been sleeping sir." The boy rambled. "And I was a bit scared that if I didn't do what he told me to that he might whip out a knife and slice me up right there. You see, he was one of those sketchy types. Didn't talk much… A bit like you actually."

Hans raised an eye brow.

"Oh pardon me, your highness." Stanly's eyes widened and he clasped his hands over his mouth. "My mouth sometimes runs a little faster than my brain and ends up saying things that would be better left unspoken. Anyway, here's your letter. I'd better be on my way." With that, he shoved the envelope in Hans's hand and rushed off down the hallway.

Hans peered down the hall after the stranger, laughing under his breath. Then he turned back and peered curiously at the envelope. Who would be contacting him at this hour? It wouldn't be his family, he knew, they probably hadn't even realized he was gone. Other than them, he couldn't think of anyone who would be writing to him at all.

He shrugged tore off the seal on the envelope, walking over to his desk as he did. He put on his glasses and sat down, slowly unfolding the parchment and staring at the loopy manuscript.

_I understand that you are interested in removing Queen Elsa from the throne. I believe that while we may have different motives, we share a common goal._

-o-

For the next few days Elsa, remained hauled away in her room. To the dismay of both her sister, and the prince, she emerged from her room only to attend council meetings.

It wasn't that she didn't want to see them. Well, maybe it was. She certainly didn't want to have another uncomfortable encounter with Hans. She feared that her emotions would get the better of her. It was better to revert to her old ways in order to protect everyone, including herself.

However, Elsa found that the more she distanced herself from him, the more thoughts of Hans flooded her mind. She could no longer deny that their mysterious encounter in the library had had a lasting effect on her, but she hated it. Every part of her knew that these desires that were coursing through her body were _wrong_. Not only did she barely know the man, but he was her sister's fiancé.

There was a banging at the door. "Elsa." Speaking of her sister.

"Yes Anna?"

There was a pause. "Do you have a minute? We need to talk."

Oh god, did she know? Elsa felt her eyes widen in fear over the idea that Anna might have somehow pieced together bits of information. Perhaps the bride-to-be had realized that Elsa was wrestling over feelings with her fiancé behind closed doors.

"Um… Sure, yes, hang on, let me just…." Elsa tripped over her shoes as she tried to throw them onto her feet. Once she was fully clothed, she slid out of the bedroom, regaining her composure and facing her sister.

Anna smiled sweetly at her, nudging her in the shoulder. "It's nice to see your face again. It's been a few days."

"Yes, sorry about that, I've just been so outrageously busy with-."

"No need to explain." Anna said gently. "There is absolutely nothing that could bring me down today. Do you know why?"

Elsa shook her head slowly.

"Because, I'm getting married tomorrow." Anna squealed. "I can't believe it. And I can't believe you forgot." She continued to babble on about wedding details that Elsa had missed while she'd been locked away.

Elsa wasn't listening. Her heart was beating furiously. Her sister was getting married tomorrow. She exhaled deeply, warming the icy feeling that was filling her body. She forced a smile.

"So anyway, I was wondering… if maybe, since, you know, our parents are… well, you know, if maybe you could possibly consider maybe giving me away a little bit?"

"What?" Elsa asked in alarm.

"You know, walk me down the aisle, give Hans the 'I will punch you in the face if you hurt my sister' look." Anna explained.

"Anna, I don't know." Elsa muttered.

"Elsa, you have to." Anna pleaded. "You are the only person I care about in the world besides Hans. I need you."

Elsa couldn't help but smile. She wanted to hug Anna, but resisted because she didn't have her gloves on. "Alright." It couldn't hurt, could it?

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you." Anna threw her arms out and pulled Elsa into a hug. "I would have asked you sooner but, you were up here and I never saw you and-."

"It's fine Anna." Elsa pulled away.

"Also," Anna glanced sheepishly down at the floor. "Hans's brothers are arriving this afternoon for the rehearsal dinner. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about it before but I was afraid you would be mad."

"Don't worry." Elsa turned and began retreating to her room. "Tell Kai to have the rooms in the West wing prepared for them."

"Oh, you're the best Elsa." Anna beamed. "You're sure you don't want to come eat lunch with me and Hans?"

Elsa nodded quickly. "Yes." She shut the door. Disaster averted

-o-

He stared distractedly at the empty chair across from him. The queen had excused herself not too long ago, and he couldn't seem to push her from his mind. In fact, he had been unable to think of anything but Elsa since their late night rendezvous in the library.

They were all seated around the long dinner table. His twelve brothers took up an enormous amount of space. He found them irritating, but the women who had attended the event seemed to be hanging off of their every word. Elsa, Hans had noticed, seemed to get along particularly well with the second eldest, Anmut. They had laughed and talked all evening, and she seemed to be completely enthralled with him.

There was no jealousy coming from Hans's end. However, if Elsa and his brother married, it would put a serious damper on his plans to become king. Because of this, Hans felt himself boiling in furry when saw his brothers hand graze Elsa's shoulder gently during dinner. She had blushed deeply, glanced across the table at him, drowned the contents of her goblet, then claimed she was exhausted and left the table.

Finally Anmut addressed him, jolting him out of his thoughts. "What's the matter, Hans? Having cold feet, are we?"

"No." Hans muttered.

"Good, because this might be your last chance to find someone buddy." One of his other brothers chimed in.

"Oh, come on." Anna defended him, squeezing his hand under the table. "He's a very kind, handsome, charming gentleman. I'm sure there are many who would be interested in-."

"I don't know where you got that idea of him princess." His brothers were clearly drunk at this point. "The boy didn't even hit puberty until he was eighteen."

All of them fell into a fit of laughter. Hans slid deeper into his chair, wishing, for the first time in his life, he was invisible.

"You're probably the first girl he's ever kissed."

Anna chuckled. "I find that hard to believe."

Hans felt himself blush in embarrassment.

"I don't know what you see in him your highness." Anmut laughed.

Hans gulped down his wine. "Enough brother." He said firmly.

"Hans, it's fine, they are your family." Anna nudged him gently in the shoulder. "They don't mean any harm."

A mixture of anger and alcohol bubbled inside of him. "If only that were true." He said under his breath.

The tension died down after that as eleven of the twelve idiots finished their food and departed to their chambers. Finally, Anna kissed him on the cheek and, muttering something about bad luck and not looking at him on the wedding day, left. This left Hans and Anmut alone.

"Hans, can I ask you something?" Anmut muttered drunkenly.

Hans nodded slowly, determined not to show that he was in a similar state to his older brother.

"The older sister, Elsa," Anmut began, his voice slurring. "I think I might fancy her. Is she arranged to be married or anything like that?"

"No." Hans growled.

"Do you think she's asleep? Maybe I'll go and check on her." Anmut chuckled and tried to get out of his chair. He tumbled backwards dumbly.

Hans glared at him. "Don't you dare. Elsa is a kind and generous queen and I won't have you toying with her reputation."

"Come on, sport. You don't have to play with me. I know you're only after Anna because you're hoping for a chance at being king someday." Anmut grinned. "I hate to mess with your plan brother, but I'm pretty sure the queen isn't going anywhere. She's a feisty little beauty." This time he managed to get to his feet, swaying slightly.

"Don't do anything you'll regret." Hans warned him, standing as well.

Anmut pondered the words of his younger brother, then smiled lightly to himself. "I suppose your right. But don't think I won't have my hands on that pale goddess by the end of the weekend."

"You bast-."

"Don't get yourself all worked up about it." Anmut backed away. "No need to get over protective. I'll back off."

He left Hans in a fit of furry. Hans sighed deeply, knowing he had no reasons to be mad at his brother. Elsa was, after all, a beautiful woman. He shouldn't be alarmed that his brother was attracted to her bright blue eyes, her soft and gentle skin, her silky hair that was always tied back in a bun but that one could only imagine getting tangled in if she would only let it cascade around her shoulders.

His mind was swirling.

-o-

Her mind was racing.

Elsa sat in the library, still in her dress from dinner. The way Anna had been lost in his eyes at the dinner table had made her feel even more guilty. She simply couldn't help herself. She couldn't keep her hands from tingling at the thought of touching his broad shoulders, or his soft red hair. She didn't want to look at anything but those green eyes. She wanted to know everything about him.

The room was dark, she was sprawled across the window seat, staring out over the garden behind the castle. The tip of the North Mountain glistened in the moonlight. Maybe she ought to run away, hide away up there for the rest of her life. If she did, she would no longer be an obstacle in her sister's road to happiness.

She swished around the whisky in her glass. After leaving the table, she had snuck into the wine cellar. Instead of taking wine, she settled on hard liquor. It burned her throat as she swallowed the last few drops.

She plucked the bobby pins out of her hair one by one, and placed meticulously in a pile on the floor. Her hair fell down her back, twisted and tangled from being up all night.

She wasn't sure if her blurred vision was from a long day or the strength of the whisky, but the rooftops in the town seemed to melt together with the fjord. If she ran away, it would be difficult to get across that vast stretch of water without being noticed. Besides she was capable of restrained. She'd been regulating her feelings since the day she'd hurt Anna with her magic.

Elsa shivered at the memory. Things were different now. She was an expert at avoiding people. All she had to do was avoid Hans and Anna until… until forever. Maybe she should banish both of them after the wedding. Get them as far away from her as possible. But she couldn't risk the possibility of either of them dying in the wilderness.

Deciding against running away, Elsa stood up and swayed. As she started to walk away, she heard a thump and then a muffled "Ow!" Suddenly alert she whirled around and squinted into the darkness.

Crumpled in a heap by the window was Hans.

"Oh my goodness, Hans are you alright?" Elsa immediately rushed and knelt down by his side.

"Yes, I'm fine." He groaned, turning over and giving her a weakened smile.

"What happened?"

"I honestly don't know. One minute I was standing just fine and I was walking over to look at the stars outside the window and the next minute I was… Well, you know." She could see the slight red on his cheeks.

"Shouldn't you be asleep? You have a big day tomorrow."

"What do you mean? I thought you didn't approve of the wedding. Wouldn't you be thrilled if I was too tired tomorrow to go through with it?"

Elsa pursed her lips. "Well, I can't say I'm in favor of moving so fast Hans. But, Anna would be devastated if anything ruined her big day tomorrow." She stood up and he followed, his balance faltering a little. She could smell on his breath that he'd been drinking.

She grabbed his shoulders to keep him steady. "Had one too many glasses of wine, have we your highness?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Guilty as charged." He replied, giving her a lopsided smile.

Why was he being so nice to her? Elsa struggled to stay upright and the floor beneath her started to feel as if it was tilting back and forth. What had she been thinking with that whisky? "Having cold feet?" She asked coldly. She did her best to give him the "if you hurt my sister I will punch you" look.

"No, no, no." Hans said hurriedly. Elsa prided herself on the gleam of fear that momentarily crossed his piercing green eyes. "I would never abandon Anna. I love her."

For some reason, those words hurt. She knew exactly why, but didn't want to believe it. "It's only natural that you should have some doubts." She informed him. "It happens to everyone. If it weren't so common, there wouldn't be a saying for it." She sat down and patted the window seat beside her. "Sit down, it'll make you feel better."

Hans sat down and slumped his back against the window. Then his head shot up abruptly. "What's that smell? Is that… whisky?"

Elsa bit her lip. "That's not important."

Suddenly he burst into laughter. "Oh _wow_, your majesty this is rich. You reprimand me for drinking too much wine when you've been drowning yourself in whisky all night."

"I'm not getting married tomorrow." She pointed out.

"I'm not giving my sister away to a handsome gentleman tomorrow." Hans shot back.

"Oh, you are vein." Elsa huffed, crossing her arms.

"With good reason."

She scowled and turned away.

After a stretch of silence, she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a surprisingly gentle voice. "Elsa, what's wrong?"

"It's hard, you see." Elsa told him. A little voice inside her head told her not to expose herself to this mysterious prince, but she didn't listen. "Giving away my sister is hard. I know that she will be happy with you and that this is all that she's ever wanted. But what if I lose her forever."

"Forgive me for saying this, but you are a complete enigma to me Elsa."

"What?"

"You talk this big talk about loving your sister when in reality about ninety percent of the time you ignore her."

Elsa squirmed under his accusation. "You have no right to tell me how to behave towards Anna."

His voice rose. "Do you even know how hurt she is every time you slam the door in her face?" She turned and glared at him, but he didn't stop. "She is constantly wondering if it is her fault, but you know what? It isn't. You have an uncanny ability to shut people out."

"I'm only trying to protect her, Hans." Elsa's eyebrows furrowed in shame. She hid her face from him and felt a tear roll down her cheek. "She's _my _sister, not yours."

"Yet, you know nothing about her."

"And you know nothing about me."

"I'd like to."

Elsa whipped back around. "What?" She asked, eyes wide.

"I'd like to get to know you, Elsa." He had a dangerous look in his dark eyes.

"Why?" She scooted away from him, but he followed her. His body pressed up against hers in a way that made her wildly uncomfortable, but also curious.

"Because I find you fascinating." He whispered.

She could barely speak. "Fascinating?"

Hans nodded and leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers.

What was happening? It felt good to have something molding itself against her mouth. It was soft and moist and tasted like wine. His hand curled up around her neck warming her cold skin. She allowed her fingers to tangle into his silky smooth hair.

She had never been kissed before, and it was really something. At first she was timid, but a few seconds in she began to reciprocate fervently. She forgot for a moment that underneath her gloves she had the power to freeze this man solid. And when the thought crossed her mind, the fear was overpowered by a piercing desire for more. She wanted more of him, she wanted to give him more of her.

His hands made their way down her back further and further, sending sparks through every part of her body that they touched.

_**I'll let you mull over how this situation might have panned out.**_

_**As you can see, I tend to move my stories at a fast pace. I don't like to beat around the bush. I like to skip straight to the main drama.**_

_**I like suggestions and feedback. :) **_


	3. Chapter 3- The Morning After

_**Boy, these just keep getting longer. **_

_**You'll have to excuse any typos. I never have time to edit.**_

This wasn't the plan. His brain screamed at him to stop, but his body didn't listen. He felt her grip on his hair tighten as his lips grazed her neck. She let out a soft moan as he maneuvered their bodies so that he was almost completely on top of her. Still kissing her, his hand started fumbling with around for the zipper on her dress. He felt a chill run down his spine as her hands moved from his hair to his neck. This was a bad idea, he knew it. He couldn't help himself. He found the zipper and gave it a rough tug.

Suddenly, the force of two hands on his chest sent him tumbling to the floor beside the window seat. His head felt hot with confusion and longing, everything around him was a blur. He looked up to see a tall, frightening figure towering over him.

"What on earth do you think you're doing Hans?" She hissed. He could see that her face was red with anger and something else that he couldn't quite decipher.

He'd blown it. He'd gone and ruined everything. Elsa would tell Anna what he'd done, and he'd be cast out of Arendelle for eternity. Damn his impulses. "I- I-," He fumbled for words. What was he supposed to say? "I'm sorry."

Elsa's figure slumped a little. "Me too." She said quietly, running her fingers though her hair, her stern gaze turning into a look of distraught.

Hans fought the urge to smile. Perhaps he hadn't completely blown it. She was sorry. "Why?" He asked, adding a hint of urgency to his voice. "You did nothing wrong. You needn't be sorry."

"Oh don't pretend I didn't reciprocate, Hans. Surely you've kissed my sister enough times to know what it feels like to have someone kiss you back." Elsa began pacing back and forth.

Hans couldn't keep from laughing slightly. "Very well. If you insist on taking some of the blame for… what just happened, I'm not going to stop you."

Elsa turned and gave him an icy blue glare. She resumed pacing.

Suddenly, Hans noticed something peculiar. Where Elsa's feet left the floor, the carpet seemed to freeze over. "Um, Elsa…" He began.

"Don't!" She held up a hand. "I'm trying to think. And you aren't helping."

"Elsa, the floor."

"Shut-." Elsa was about to shush him when she realized what he was reacting to. She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes filled with a fear unlike anything Hans had ever seen before. She threw him a fleeting glance before turning and racing away.

He jumped up and chased after her, following the pathway of frosted footprints. His head was throbbing but he didn't care. What was going on? Where was the ice coming from? This surely complicated things. His mind flew to the correspondence he had been having with an anonymous anti-monarchial rebel.

_Queen Elsa is a danger to civilization and must be destroyed_, the stranger had scribbled in crimson ink the color of blood.

Could this icy phenomenon be what the man was referring too?

Hans continued to chase her, but the queen glided down the hallway as if the wind was carrying her feet. He on the other hand was struggling not to trip and slip over the patches of frost. She turned, clearly saw that he was still close behind her, and then took off into a faster sprint.

He noticed they were nearing her bedroom. Soon she would have nowhere else to run or hide. Hans exercised every ounce of strength he had inside him and burst forward, propelling into Elsa's back and tackling her to the ground.

His body was pressed up against hers so hard that he could feel her heart pounding, and feel her chest rising and falling quickly. He wanted so badly to kiss her again, to plunge into her like a…

But he couldn't. No, first he had to figure out what was going on. Where had that ice come from?

"Get off of me." Elsa said, completely out of breath. She squirmed under him, which only made him want her more.

He was straddling her awkwardly, but he was concerned that if he removed himself, she would just start running again. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

She relaxed her body underneath him. "That's not happening. I can't tell you anything."

"Why don't you trust me, Elsa?" Hans asked, though he wouldn't have trusted him either. But, for some reason, it really hurt his ego that she was still suspicious of him. He wanted her to believe in him enough to share these things with him.

He wasn't married to this woman. What was all this crap about honesty he was building up in his head? It was a bunch of horse manure. He wanted Elsa _out_. There were absolutely no other reasons why he had seduced her, or defended her to his brother, or thought about nothing but her for the last few days.

"Why do you think?" Elsa finally asked. "You waltz in here, get engaged to my sister, and then seduce me in the library. What about that is trustworthy?"

Hans sighed. "Touché."

Elsa giggled beside him. He was confused for a second about why she was laughing, and then he remembered that she was probably still a little tipsy. "I can't believe I kissed you." She slapped her hand to her forehead.

"I can't believe you kissed me either." He replied. "And you were really going at it."

She elbowed him in the side.

"Oh, what the hell." Elsa said after a long stretch of silence, surprising him with very not-pristine language.

He felt her weight as she shifted to be on top of him. Her lips were suddenly planted onto his again, this time pressing harder than they had before.

"You know," She said, between kisses. "I have never done anything like this before."

He smiled onto her lips, and wrapped his arms around her waist, pushing her hips against him.

"I think I'm still drunk." She whispered into his mouth. "I probably won't remember any of this in the morning."

He knew this was a bad idea. He knew it would ruin everything, but he didn't care. He just wanted to hold her in his arms forever. He didn't care what that every time she touched him he got a chill. If fact, he kind of liked it.

Finally, Elsa released him. "I should go to bed." She said breathlessly.

He grabbed her by the neck and kissed her again. "Good night Elsa."

-o-

Elsa opened her eyes and immediately shut them. Her head was throbbing ferociously. The light that shone in through her window pierced her eyes like daggers. She groaned and turned over.

Then she sat up straight and threw the covers off of the bed. Her sister was getting married today. She was giving away her sister to Hans today. She felt the blood vessels in her brain pulsating at the thought of Hans. She wasn't quite sure why.

Then she remembered. She just about fell out of bed. She had done something beyond stupid, something horrible and selfish and heartless and cruel. Her recollection of the night's events was so hazy, all she remembered was some rather passionate lip contact.

She checked to make sure that Hans wasn't in her bed.

He wasn't.

She got up and walked over the door to ring for a servant to clean up the icicles that were hanging from the ceiling and to help her get dressed for the wedding.

The wedding during which her sister would be marrying the man who she had come frighteningly close to doing the unspeakable with. She would never speak of this to anyone ever again. She would deny it until the day she died.

She was about to pull the lever to ring for her ladies maid when she heard a groan outside the door. She opened it to find none other than Hans, lying in a heap on the carpet, completely unconscious. She nudged him with her foot, but he didn't budge.

Elsa scratched her head. She couldn't very well leave him lying on the floor outside her bedroom. What would people think? They might get the wrong idea or worse, the right one. She glanced at a clock down the hall. It was still early. Most people wouldn't be up yet.

She resolved to drag Hans to his bedroom before anyone noticed he was gone. She bent down and hoisted the heavy man up, attempting to prop him on her shoulder. He slipped right off and crumpled onto the floor. She tried again, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing his back up against his body. She managed to get him partially up right and started to drag him down the hall way.

The position they were in was extremely suggestive. She feared that either someone would see them and misinterpret the situation, or that Hans might wake up and misinterpret the situation. She wasn't sure which one would be worse.

She could feel his heat radiating off of him where his back and her chest were pushed tightly together. The weight of his body was pulling the front of her dress, which she had left on the night before, down a little bit and his head was resting on her bear skin. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on the task at hand.

She was walking backwards, praying to god that there was no one behind her. She managed to get him down the stairs to the second floor where she knew his bedroom was. As she dragged him down the final stretch to his chambers, she tripped and fell backwards and found herself trapped underneath his body for the second time in the last twenty four hours.

She groaned when she heard a door open behind her, knowing she had been discovered.

"Well, there Elsa." She heard one of Hans's brother's snicker. She strained her neck to see the second eldest, Anmut, smirking at her. "You seem to have gotten yourself in quite the predicament."

She tucked her hands under her back to keep herself from spraying a sheet of ice at the egotistical flirt. "For the first time since I've met you Anmut, your observation seems to be keenly accurate." She shifted uncomfortably underneath of Hans, and pushed him off of her.

"Need a hand with that, my lady?" Anmut asked, still grinning at her. She didn't like the way that he was looking at her.

She coughed. "Um, yes, thank you." She bent down and grabbed Hans's hands. "You get his feet, and I'll get his arms and we'll carry him into his room."

Anmut obeyed. They lifted Hans up and began moving slowly towards the door to his room. "Poor thing." Anmut commented. "He's going to have an awful hangover when he wakes up." He laughed to himself and added "Worse than yours."

Elsa looked at him in shock. She had thought that she had been doing a decent job hiding the fact that something in her head was pounding so loudly her brain felt like it was about to burst. "What?"

"You look awful." Anmut explained frankly. "Almost as if…" He trailed off and glanced back and forth between Elsa and his brother. "Oh my god."

Elsa's eyes widened. Clearly she had been found out. "This isn't what it looks like." She muttered.

"I can't believe this. My perfect younger brother, with his perfect bride and perfect everything, has a dirty little secret." Anmut licked his lips. "My, this is _rich_."

"This is _not_ what it looks like." Elsa said again.

"Well, your majesty, it looks like the prince spent the night in your chambers." Anmut informed her. "And from my guesses, passed out in your bed?"

"No." Elsa stammered. "I would never." They carefully placed his limp body onto his bed. "He's engaged to my sister."

"Okay, so maybe you didn't… you know. But you definitely kissed him."

"How did you know that?" Elsa asked and immediately regretted it. She slapped her hand over her mouth.

"I didn't." Anmut laughed. "But you just confirmed my suspicions."

This man was a real pain. She wanted to send a torrent of ice at him so hard he would fly right out the window. But she couldn't. She didn't want Anmut knowing any more than he already did.

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone." Anmut assured her. "I like a little drama. It'll be fun to watch you pining over your sister's fiancé." He chuckled and walked out of the room, leaving Elsa alone with Hans.

The sleeping Hans looked peaceful, his chiseled jaw relaxed. Elsa gently tucked his disheveled hair away from his eyes with her finger.

For some reason, she realized, she wasn't afraid of freezing him. Her hands could dance across his body as much as they wanted and no spurts of ice would distort his perfect features.

Her hand was still resting on his forehead when Hans stirred and opened his eyes. His face lit up when their gazes met, then his eyebrows scrunched and he winced. "My head." He muttered.

"I know." Elsa whispered softly, sitting down next to him. "I have it too."

Hans relaxed as she pressed her fingers into his temple. "That feels good." He sighed, closing his eyes. "Do it a little harder." She complied with his request and he moaned softly.

His moan caught her off guard. She drew her hand away sharply and stood up.

Hans opened his eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Elsa just stared at him, tears collecting behind her eyes. "You're getting married today."

He seemed to come to a sudden realization. "Oh, right." How could he have he forgotten?

Elsa clasped her hands in front of her in a very formal fashion. She started to back out of the room.

"Wait, where are you going?" Hans stretched out a hand to her.

"I'm going to wake up Anna and help her get ready for her wedding." Despite her greatest attempt to sound calm and collected, her voice quivered at the end of the sentence. She rubbed her forehead and added, "Her wedding, to _you_."

"This is really messed up isn't it?" Hans commented.

Elsa nodded, then shook her head. "No one has to know." She reasoned. "It didn't escalate to the point of no return, so no one has to know."

She couldn't bear the look of hurt that cast a shadow over his green eyes so she turned towards the door.

"What Anna doesn't know, won't hurt her." She continued trying to convince herself that this could all be okay. Then she turned and pointed threateningly at Hans. "Do you swear not to speak a word of this to anyone?"

"Elsa." The hurt was replace with anger.

"Do you swear that the events of last night will never be recounted and _never_ be repeated?"

"No."

"What?" Elsa's stomach did a summersault.

"I can't swear that I'll pretend we never kissed and I can't swear that I'll never kiss you again." Hans raised his body out of bed and his voice went with it. "I love you Elsa."

"You're insane, Hans." Elsa backed away towards the door.

"Maybe." He cornered her against the wall, and forced her arms up around his neck. "But I won't deny it. I can't deny it."

"What about Anna?" Elsa breathed.

"I care about Anna, of course." He admitted. "But I could _never_ be drawn towards her the way I am drawn towards you."

"You're still drunk Ha-."

He kissed her passionately, cutting off her words, pushing her up against the wall. She gave into it momentarily, letting the warmth from his body fill her, then shoved him away.

"Don't do something you'll regret Hans." Her voice turned to stone. "Don't make _me_ do something I'll regret."

"I have no regrets Elsa." Hans said heatedly. She could see the lust in his eyes growing, and she could feel herself beginning to lose control. "Why should I regret loving someone as mysterious and beautiful and perfect and dangerous as you? You are exactly what I have always wanted."

"No I'm not," Elsa swallowed, but she could feel the emotion bubbling up inside her. Pretty soon there would be no stopping it. "I'm not who you think I am, Hans."

"And that's what makes you so alluring." He countered. "I want to know you. I want to know your body, sure, but even more I want to know your mind. It is such a fascinating intricate mind. I don't care that you could freeze me to death with those blue eyes." He lunged towards her again, grabbing her face and forcing her lips to slam into his.

And finally she broke. Two icicles extended from her hands and threw him off of her, pinning him to the wall by the sleeves of his jacket. His eyes widened in fear and a look of clarity spread over his face.

What had she done? There would be no turning back now. She had just knowingly exposed, to this man, a part of her which she had successfully kept hidden for thirteen years.

She stormed up to him, and brought her face so close to his their noses were touching. "I'm going to ask you again Hans." His breath was hot against her, and all she wanted to do was tear the buttons off of his dress shirt right then. But she didn't. "Swear to never tell a single soul of the events that transpired between us, and to never make a spectacle of yourself that way again." This time she wasn't asking, she was demanding.

She watched him swallow hard and nod slowly. "I promise to never touch you, nor speak of touching you." He said quietly, his voice quivering. "But I stand by what I said. I will never, so long as your breath is a part of the air I breathe, regret loving you. Until the day which one of us ceases to exist I will love you. Every time I hold Anna in my arms I will wish it I was kissing your sweet porcelain neck."

This was frightening. He was breathing hard and his face was reddening. Elsa moved away a bit, but he grabbed her wrist with his hand.

"And you will never stop loving me, will you princess?" Hans smiled. "Every time you see me with Anna, you will subconsciously be wishing that you were her."

Elsa shook her head. "I want her to be happy."

"How can she be truly happy with a man who doesn't truly love her?"

She knew what the answer was. Her heart thumped in her chest. "Hans. You have to let go." She told him.

"But do you really want me to?" Hans asked, his voice sugary and sweet. "I know about your powers, and I still want you. I don't care that you might be a monster. When are you going to find someone else who will accept you for your true self?"

Was he threatening her? He made a strikingly valid point. He was the first, and possibly the only man who would ever love her despite her powers. Perhaps if it weren't for Anna…

Anna. She couldn't forget about her sister. She couldn't be the reason for her sister's broken heart. There were certain types of love that were higher priorities than others. And she wasn't even in love with Hans, was she? It didn't matter. By any standards, familial love surpassed lustful longing.

"No." She admitted to him. "You are probably the only man mad enough not to fear me. I honestly don't know what Anna sees in you. You are completely and utterly insane."

Hans smirked.

"But for some bizarre reason, she is madly in love with you. And I am not about to stand in the way of her happiness." She declared. She ripped the icicles out of his shirt and his arms fell to his sides. "I'm leaving Hans. Whatever this _thing_ between us is, or _was_, it is not nearly as important as Anna."

"Elsa-,"

"No Hans." Elsa couldn't look at him anymore. She thought she might melt at the mercy of those damn green eyes. She swiftly whirled around and stormed out of the bedroom, leaving no evidence of her having been there except for the holes in Hans's shirt.

-o-

What the hell was wrong with him? He had thought for a moment that he had her under his spell. He realized only now the strength of her will power. It had been a helpless cause to begin with.

Worse than the failure he had just experienced, was the guilt and hurt that now plagued him. He wondered if he had been lying to the queen during his passionate outburst. Did he love her? It wasn't possible. You can't fall in love with someone you've just met. Can you?

And the powers. He had suspected last night but now he had actually seen them, felt them. They were as beautiful as the woman who wielded them. The speed at which she had propelled him against the wall was magnificent. Knowing of her great strength made him want her even more.

Furry bubbled up inside him as he remembered how she had rejected him. Why would she be so foolish? She didn't know, he figured, that he had the power to tear her life into a million pieces at the drop of a hat. Especially now that he knew her little secret.

He sat down at his desk, dipped his pen in ink and began scribbling.

_You couldn't have been more right about the Queen. _He wrote, his fingers quivering from his boiling rage.

_She has secrets I never dreamed of. _

_I have been cautious up until now about using destructive methods._ He bent further over the paper, clenching his jaw.

_Due to recent developments, I have realized that there may be no peaceful solution. _

_How can you help me in removing her from the throne?_

He folded up the letter, placed it on his desk for later, than stood up to ring for assistance in getting ready for his wedding.

-o-

"Elsa, this thing is so tight." Anna gasped for air as Elsa yanked on the strings of her corset. "I can't breathe."

Elsa stood behind her sister, staring at their reflections in the mirror. Anna was tracing her the fabric around her middle and cringing as Elsa pulled the strings tighter.

"This is even worse than the dress from your coronation." Anna complained.

"You'll get used to it." Elsa assured her as she tied the knot. "And you'll look completely stunning."

"Oh my god I'm so nervous." Anna slumped into the couch, and rested her head in her hands.

Elsa sat down beside her and rubbed her back gently. "You have no reason to be nervous."

"I have every reason to be nervous." Anna insisted. "I barely know Hans. You were right, I shouldn't be marrying someone I've just met."

Elsa knew that what Anna was experiencing was merely the classic pre-wedding jitters. A small part of her wished that they were something more but she knew they weren't. "You love Hans." She reminded Anna.

"I think I do. But how does one know for sure whether they are in love?"

"I don't know." Elsa spat. What possessed Anna to ask that question? Did she know about what had happened last night? She couldn't. Elsa knew she was just being paranoid but she couldn't help but wonder. "There isn't a set of rules to guide you when you fall in love. You of all people should know that love is spontaneous and unpredictable and often times completely blind." She hated that she had just let those escape from her mouth.

Anna stopped groaning and looked at Elsa curiously. "That was insightful of you to say." She narrowed her eyes. "What's gotten into you?"

"What?" Elsa moved to the other side of the room and began searching in Anna's closet for… Well, she wasn't actually looking for anything. She was trying to hide her face for fear that it would reveal something. "Nothing at all has gotten into me. I'm my normal self." Her voice slid into a strangely high register.

"Don't lie to me Elsa. I can tell that something's up." Anna walked over to where Elsa was bent over a drawer.

Elsa held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

Then she felt suffocated as Anna flung her arms around her waist. "You're feeling sentimental about my getting married, aren't you?" Anna asked, beaming.

Elsa quickly nodded. It wasn't a lie. She had admitted to Hans just last night that she _was_ worried about losing her sister forever. That just wasn't the only reason she was acting strange.

"Oh my god, Elsa." Anna squeezed her tighter. "You haven't the slightest reason to be sad. I'm not going anywhere. Hans and I are going to live _here _in the palace."

Elsa's head shot up. She realized that this situation she had gotten herself twisted up in was not going to be over after the wedding. It would go on and on for eternity. _I will never, as long as your breath is part of the air I breathe, regret loving you_.

She shook her head, cupping her face in her gloved hands. "I know darling. It's just, I feel like Hans is stilling you away from me."

"He would never _steal _me from you, Elsa." Anna promised, releasing her deathly hug slightly to look into Elsa's eyes. "I wouldn't let him. There's room enough in my heart for both of you." Then she tightened her grip around Elsa again.

"Anna." Elsa wheezed. "I can't breathe."

"Now you know how I feel in this stupid corset."

-o-

"Alright sport," Anmut said as he busted into Hans's bedroom. "As your best man-."

"You're not my best man, Anmut." Hans told him bluntly.

"Well as your older brother," Anmut continued, unfazed. "It is my duty to ensure that you are not a hung over slug on your wedding day." He shoved a class filled with something gross into Hans's hand. "Drink up buddy."

Hans shook his head. "There is no way I'm drinking that."

"You better. That is, unless you want everyone to think you were up all night with the Princess's sister."

Hans spun around. "What?" Did his brother know? There was no way he could know.

"Relax, I'm only joking." Anmut nudged him in the stomach. "I'm just warning you that, if you show up looking like _that_ people are going to draw conclusions."

Hans looked in the mirror and scowled at the dark baggy shadows under his eyes. Unable to deny that he was a sorry sight, he reluctantly accepted Anmut's apparent remedy.

With the first sip, he thought he would vomit on the spot. He tried to swallow the slimy mixture and gagged. "This tastes like tar." He muttered, thinking his face might turn that cliché sickly green color.

"But you feel better already, don't you?"

Hans thought for a moment and realized that his head ache had dissipated like magic. He nodded at his brother. "It's shockingly effective." He observed. "What is in it?"

"I'd rather not tell you, sport, you'd probably kill me." Anmut chuckled. "Now, you really ought to remove last night's clothes. You may as well wear a sign that says 'I kissed my Queen Elsa last night'." He moved as if to leave the room.

"What?" He stood up and grabbed Anmut by the shoulder. This is insane. "What do you know?"

"Nothing." Anmut teased. "Except for what Elsa told me while we were dragging you from the hallway to your bed."

Hans felt his face turn scarlet. "She made me swear not to tell." He bared his teeth in furry.

A flash of sympathy momentarily crossed his elder brother's face. "Oh, well, that's awkward for you. She didn't seem at all resigned about sharing every dirty, provocative detail with me."

Hans felt his body lunge at his brother as forcefully as he had lunged at Elsa moments earlier. His fist flew towards his brother's face.

Anmut, who had the build of a mountain man, easily grabbed Hans's wrist and stopped the blow. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. It'll be interesting to see how this all pans out. I'm curious to see how she copes with watching the man she loves marry someone else."

"She doesn't love me." Hans informed his brother spitefully.

"Oh, but she does." Anmut insures him. "She told me."

"You're lying." Hans growled, ignoring the glimmer of hope that bubbled inside of him at the thought. He didn't care if she loved him or not. He couldn't afford to care.

"Fine, don't believe me." Anmut finally let go of Hans's hand and strode over to the door. He flung it open. "Good luck with the wedding, sport." He gave a halfhearted wave and disappeared down the hallway.

-o-

Anna, fully adorned in her wedding dress, twirled in a circle, clasping her hands in front of her chest and swooning at its perfect design. "It's so beautiful."

Elsa stood behind her, still in her clothes from the previous night, though thankfully Anna hadn't noticed. She glanced at the clock and saw that they had ten minutes before the ceremony began. "You look amazing."

The strapless dress adorned with crystal beading and rhinestones on the top was absolutely stunning on Anna. A light pink ribbon tied around her waist separated the sparkling bodice of the dress from the ball gown styled bottom which cascaded down over her feet.

"Here, let me help you with the train." Elsa grabbed the silky translucent train of the dress off the dresser and adjusted it so that it flowed gracefully behind Anna. "There." She stepped back to admire her work.

Anna squealed with delight. "This is the best day ever."

Elsa giggled at her sister's excitement and the two fell into a fit of laughter.

Suddenly and gasped and a look of pure terror spread over her face. "Oh my god."

"What? Is something wrong? Are you okay?" Elsa asked nervously.

"I don't have my somethings?" Anna declared.

"Your what?" Elsa felt confusion replace her fear.

"You know, like something old, something borrowed, something blue." Anna reminded her. "They are the keys to a happy marriage and I forgot to get them. Oh my god, this wedding is going to be a disaster."

"Anna, calm down. Let me go and change and then when I come back we can discuss this further."

"We have less than five minutes." Anna was now hyperventilating and pacing. "I can't get married without my somethings." She turned and grabbed Elsa by the shoulders, shaking her hard. "Help me!" She begged.

"Okay, okay." Elsa thought for a moment, then it hit her. "My gloves. Borrow my cloves." She gestured to the blue lacy gloves she was currently wearing. There were slightly fancier and less shielding then her usual silk ones, and she only ever wore them on very special occasions.

"Okay, good, they are blue and borrowed." Anna nodded. But her smile quickly turned into a pout. "What about old? I need old."

"Don't worry." Elsa soothed her. "These particular gloves were Mother's." It was true. She felt tears well up in her eyes in remembrance of the day her mother had given them to her.

"Oh Elsa, I can't take these."

"Yes, you can." Elsa insisted. "Mother would have wanted you to have them on your wedding day." She smiled and carefully slid the gloves off of her hands.

Anna took them and returned the smile. "Their cold." She noted.

"You're probably just nervous." Elsa told her.

Anna nodded and put the gloves on. "Alright, I'm ready."

"I'll meet you out there. I just have to get dressed."

"You don't have time to go all the way to your room. Just borrow one of my dresses." Anna asserted as she walked out the door.

"But-." Before Elsa could protest Anna was gone. She didn't feel right disobeying her sister on her wedding day so she rummaged through Anna's closet to try and find something she felt comfortable wearing.

Then she had an idea. She glanced down at her dress from yesterday as the thought materialized in her mind. Then she waved her hand in the direction of the dress in hopes of transforming it. It worked.

-o-

The wedding was taking place in the court yard outside of the castle. It was the second time in the last two months that Queen Elsa had allowed the gates to be opened

Hans stood at the altar, his hands shaking. He had spent the last few minutes making small talk with his brothers and fidgeting with his clothes. This was more nerve wracking than he'd expected it to be.

Finally the music began to play and he watched as the procession began. It was a very typical ceremony, filled with several distant relatives who he barely knew.

When it came time for Elsa to deliver Anna down the aisle, he braced himself. He knew it would be difficult. Especially now that he knew that Elsa was in love with him, and wanted him as much as he wanted her.

He shook his head and the two women came into focus. But really only one of them came into focus. It wasn't that Anna wasn't beautiful, she was definitely stunning. Elsa was just glowing. Hans couldn't quite describe the material that her dress was made of, but it highlighted all the right places on her body. He felt himself sweating and his breath heaving at the thought of touching her.

God, this was bad. Luckily, he was able to pull himself together by the time they reached him.

Anna clung to Elsa's arm for dear life. The queen was in a daze, staring straight at him. He tried not to look back at her, but it was proving difficult. He could almost feel a cool spark on each part of his body where her eyes fell. He clenched his fist as her gaze traveled down his body. It felt like she was caressing him with icy fingers. What was this? It was frightening, but felt indescribably _good_.

He snapped his attention to his bride, whose expression was a mixture of nervousness and excitement. Still he could feel her eyes searching him, searching for answers, searching for secrets.

Stop. This was insane. She wasn't touching his skin with her eyes. That was impossible. She was standing several feet away from him. There was no way that it was her that he was feeling.

His knees almost gave out as an icy feeling coursed through him from his feet to the top of his head. He finally met her eyes again and gave her a stern look as if to say _"stop doing that"_.

She looked confused. Did she even know what she was doing to him?

It was something that her powers were doing, he guessed. She shot him a glare that made his breath get caught in his throat. There were magical forces at work here, he was sure of it.

He turned to Anna, who was now smiling brightly at him. He took one of her hands in his and tried his best to gaze deep into her eyes. It was difficult.

-o-

Why was this so difficult?

Elsa blinked rapidly, trying to rationalize with herself. This wasn't that big of a deal. Whatever feelings were arising in her at this moment had nothing to do with Hans.

They couldn't. Elsa tore her eyes away from Hans and studied her sister. She seemed so happy, so innocent. Clueless to what had happened in the previous night and that morning, Anna's eyes were lit up like firecrackers.

As Anna, lost in Hans's eyes, slowly let go of her arm and floated up to where he stood with the minister, Elsa felt the urge to grab her and scream.

She didn't, and by some miracle her ungloved hands remained completely unaroused. She looked at Hans again, and watched his body twitch as if he was being touched.

"Take care of my sister." She attempted to sound stern and protective, but she felt her whole body tremble and knew that she had been far from intimidating.

Hans nodded, a look of pure longing on his face and extended a hand to her. "It is my honor." He said quietly.

Elsa reluctantly received the hand shake then backed away quickly. Anna gave her a thumbs up and mouthed _"thank you"_ and the ceremony continued.

Elsa kept her jaw clenched and her eyes on the floor the entire time. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Anmut smirking. It irked her how much pleasure he was getting out of this, so she averted her eyes back to Hans.

Big mistake.

As soon as she looked at him, his knees buckled and she thought for a split second he was going to moan her name. "Yes." He pulled himself together long enough to say. Her eyes widened as she realized what had just happened.

"Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Her sister was now married. Hans was now married. Elsa held her breath.

She watched as Hans grabbed Anna forcefully and kissed her. She sat on her hands, feeling the cold bubble up inside her. As the wedding music began to play, Elsa jumped up and left the court yard at the speed of lightning.

She rushed up to her room and screamed for the first time. As her voice flew from her mouth, her powers exploded like they never had before. She felt like icicles were piercing out of every crevice in her body and it hurt.

But did it? In a way it felt good, like a sort of release. She took a deep breath, let it out, and flopped onto her bed.

-o-

He needed her to touch him for real.

He needed to know every curve of her body.

He still had chills from the way she had _looked_ at him during the ceremony.

The reception was over. Anna was waiting for him in their now shared bedroom. It was all so real now.

Hans was married.

No stars shone in the sky as he trampled down the path to the stables. He was so angry. He was also hungry, but not for food, for something he didn't want to admit. Mostly though, he was furious with Elsa for putting him through hell with her icy magical glare.

She had some nerve, after making him swear not to go down that road, to just feel him up with her eyes like that. She may not have known she was doing it, but it didn't matter. He was the victim in this situation, he had no power against her. He was rendered defenseless.

He entered the stables and found the young, freckled boy lying asleep in the hay. At the sound of Hans's feet in the straw, Stanley stirred and opened his eyes.

"Here." Hans said abruptly, pulling the letter he had written earlier and shoving it into the boy's hand. "Deliver this."

"Who to?" Stanley asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I think you know." Hans spat, turning on his heels and storming out into the darkness.

_**See, now, there are a lot of people following and favoriting this story, but very few reviews. I would love to hear the opinions of everyone, good or bad. **_


	4. Chapter 4- Tangled Thoughts

_**Sorry if Elsa was a little OOC, I tried my best to bring her back a little in this chapter but I think I may have failed because she ends up... Never mind I don't want to spoil it.**_

Elsa walked gracefully into the dining room. The wedding was three days gone, as were all their guests, as were the feelings that had arisen in the pit of Elsa's stomach after that night before the ceremony. Or, so she hoped. She honestly didn't know what she was feeling anymore.

One thing she knew was that her ice spasms had been happening consistently less often, which was surprising. The only time that she ever felt the magic overpowering her control was when she thought about him.

So, maybe the tension between her and Hans was far from left behind. She noticed that for since the ceremony, he had been avoiding her.

It was for the best, she knew. Anna had an extra spring in her step, and her smile had grown a bit brighter. It was obviously for a reason that Elsa couldn't bring herself to say out loud, or fully think about. She didn't want to be jealous of her sister. She wanted to be happy for her. She was happy for her.

Upon entering, she found Anna seated in Hans's lap at the end of the table, nuzzling and kissing his neck. Elsa realized that neither of them knew she was there when Hans moaned. She crinkled her eyebrows and coughed pointedly.

Both of them snapped out of the embrace immediately and their glances shot up to Elsa who was standing in the doorway. They looked embarrassed, Anna with her hair slightly mussed up and Hans with pure guilt washed over his face. Elsa met Hans's eyes with hers and tried to reassure him that nothing was wrong by pressing her lips into a thin line.

She watched him shiver under the power of her glare as Anna slid off of him. It gave her a bit of pleasure that she could make him squirm.

"Good evening Elsa." He said quietly, standing up as a sign of courtesy.

Elsa nodded and curtseyed a little. "Good evening Prince Hans." Adding the _Prince _back to the beginning of his name seemed to somehow distance them from each other. She knew that distance was the only way she could keep her body from flinging at him on the spot.

He returned the nod as she sat down at the other end of the table. There was an odd dynamic now that Hans was, in a way, the man of the household. Elsa was still in charge, but Hans the head of his own family, and seemed a bit power hungry. He was constantly asking to do tasks for her, some related to his position as man of the house, some related to overseeing the kingdom. He would hear that she was struggling with her queenly duties and offer to take some of them over for her.

Even more difficult than saying no to him, was watching him with another woman. She could see everything from her bedroom window, from their early morning walk in the garden, to their random afternoon picnics. Hans had been so right when he had said she would want to scream every time she saw them together.

She watched Hans take the last bite of his food and get up slowly, leaving Anna and her alone at the table in silence.

Anna moved from one end of the table to the other so that she was sitting next to Elsa. "What's going on Elsa?" She asked. "You seem a little out of it."

"I'm fine." Elsa insisted.

"Elsa, I want to talk to you about something important."

Elsa tilted her chin up so that she was looking her sister straight in the eye. "What?"

Anna bit her lip and smiled a little. "Well, I was just thinking about…" She paused and giggled a little. "Well, you know that Hans and I… We, um," She eyed Elsa cautiously. "We're married now."

This was uncomfortable. Elsa felt unqualified to be giving her sister relationship advice about Hans although perhaps she knew more about the Prince than her sister did. She shook her head, pushing the thought away, and decided to be supportive. She turned her gaze back to her plate and nodded slowly. "And?"

"Well, I was just wondering…" She trailed off again.

"Wondering _what_?"

"This is embarrassing." Anna explained.

Still not looking up, Elsa nudged her in the shoulder. "You can ask me anything."

"Okay." There was another pause as Anna gathered her courage. "Is it weird that we haven't, you know, consummated the marriage yet?"

Elsa choked a little on her food then swallowed hard. The conversation had just extended beyond uncomfortable. She tried not to look up at Anna, for fear that she might not be able to mask the jealousy and anger that flooded her mind when she thought of Anna and Hans in bed together. The idea of Anna giving herself up to a man that didn't really love her disgusted Elsa. She finally looked up to see Anna staring expectantly at her. "Well, I suppose that whether or not abstaining from, _you know_, is acceptable would depend on the reason for the abstention."

Anna looked confused.

"Why haven't you done it yet?" Elsa asked awkwardly.

Anna scrunched her face up. "I'm kind of scared to…" She said quietly.

"Oh, you mean, it's you who doesn't want to, not Hans?" Elsa felt a pang of disappointment.

Anna nodded. "Well, of course he claims that it's fine and that we can wait as long as I want to but," Her voice became a whisper. "I can tell that he has a lot of pent up sexual frustration and tension ever since the wedding."

Elsa's eyes widened. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe this so called _sexual frustration_ had anything to do with her.

Anna noticed her changed expression. "I'm sorry to bother you with something so _awkward_ but-." She looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"It's fine Anna. You should be able to talk to someone about these things." Elsa assured her. "And I'm your sister, so it is absolutely natural that you should be able to discuss them with me."

Anna looked up and smiled a little.

"It's just that, I am not much help with this sort of thing." Elsa apologized. "I'm sorry I can't be more help. I've never been married before."

"Have you ever…?" Anna trailed off and averted her eyes again. "You know."

Elsa almost laughed. The answer was no. Despite the fact that she was significantly older than her sister her romantic experience had been nonexistent up until a few days ago. "Um…" She started to talk but stopped, not really knowing what to say.

"Never mind." Anna sulked for a few moments.

Hans was much older than Anna, who was still barely eighteen. The age difference had been one of the reasons Elsa had disapproved of the marriage from the beginning. And it was even clearer now that Anna was in completely over her head with the marriage thing. No matter how in love two people are with each other, being together can still be an awful idea.

That wasn't going to happen with Anna though. Elsa was determined to fix her sisters problem. It was crucial that Hans and Anna stayed together considering that if they separated, those green eyes and that powerful toned body might become virtually irresistible. "Anna, maybe you just need some time to yourself." Elsa finally said. "Why don't you go for a walk in the town?"

Anna's face lit up. "The town? But, what about the closed gates."

"I guess I could make an exception just this one time." Elsa considered. "Just take a guard with you and don't bring any strangers into the castle when you come back."

"Why would I bring someone back here?"

"You're a social butterfly, of course you'll want to bring some new friend back." Elsa told her. "But don't. We can't have any more strangers into this castle."

Anna immediately stood up. "I'll be back in an hour." She said and dashed out of the room.

Alone at last, Elsa relaxed into her chair.

-o-

_I will have infiltrated the castle by tomorrow evening. Once I do, the plan can go into effect._

Hans scowled. He didn't even know what the plan was. This man he was corresponding with was even more secretive than he was.

_I will bring with me the resources necessary to permanently remove Queen Elsa from Arendelle._

Guilt pulsed through Hans's body. Had he made a huge mistake by contacting this stranger? No, he hadn't. Elsa needed to be disposed of, didn't she? Well, disposed was a strong word. She needed to be gone. But he wanted her to be in his life forever. With her there, it was impossible for him to achieve his full power, but if she died or was injured at his hands, he would never be able to live with himself.

There were so many reasons why the queen was in the way. Not only did she hold the crown that he felt destined to wear, but she also presented a difficult road block in his marriage. It had gotten only worse since the wedding. He couldn't close his eyes without picturing her face, or move his body without wishing she was beside him, or touch Anna without comparing her to her sister.

The most recent development, her abilities to touch him with her powers just by looking at him, was causing him some serious grief. He wasn't even sure if it was her magic, he only knew if felt like it was a part of her, and because it was a part of her it felt like a part of him. It was strange, thinking about her had become such a constant continuous part of his day that it came as no surprise when he got chills at the sight of her. They were good chills, sweet chills that coursed through him, cooling and relaxing the hot tension his acquired in his veins from not actually touching her.

Could he bear to let her get hurt? Could he bear to be the reason for her demise? He had to, didn't he? Did he really have a choice at this point? The plan had already been put into action. There was nothing he could do.

Hans glanced out the window into the darkness and began to wonder where his wife was. He hadn't seen her since dinner and it was getting late.

Anna was proving to be a challenge. Their relationship had acquired a new pressure since they had married and he was not a fan of it. It was only natural that they should have already consummated the marriage, but they hadn't. Anna was reluctant and he didn't feel particularly compelled to pressure her into something she didn't want. She couldn't know it, but he was more put off by the idea of sex than she was.

That wasn't completely true. Hans was after all, a man, and it of course he had desires. But he felt wrong projecting his desires onto Anna. She was so young and innocent and he had come to, in a twisted manipulative way, actually care about her.

He had always thought himself a man without morals, but when it came to Elsa and her sister, he was beginning to feel his moral compass going out of control in rage. He couldn't quite pinpoint the reason.

Hans began to search for Anna and eventually arrived in the main entrance way to the castle. There he found Elsa, sitting underneath a painting with her head in her hands.

He coughed and her head shot up, her eyes widening at the sight of him.

They stared at each other uncomfortably for a moment, then both tried to speak at the same time. "I was just looking for Anna." Their voices were strangely synchronized.

Elsa nodded and gazed at the door.

"Where do you think she could be?" Hans asked, moving to lean up against the wall across the hall from her.

"I don't know, somewhere out there." Elsa gestured to the bolted door. "They've locked the door, so I'm just waiting for her to get home so I can let her in. But she is taking forever."

"Do you think she's alright?"

Elsa quivered and the temperature dropped what seemed like ten degrees. "Oh god, I hope so." She muttered. "If she's hurt it would be all my fault."

"Elsa, calm down. I'm sure Anna is fine." Hans crossed the hall and bent down to try and comfort her.

She pushed his hand away coldly, and the floor around him turned to ice. "_Don't_ touch me." She said sternly.

"Whoa." He whispered softly.

"God, now look what you've made me do." She stood up and glared at him.

She looked so cute and passionate when she was angry. What? No, she didn't. "You look cute when you're angry." He heard himself say. Half of his brain screamed in furry at the other half.

Elsa opened her mouth to say something but struggled to find the words. The ice on the floor started to spread up the walls.

God, he was such an ass sometimes. "Sorry." He managed. "Couldn't help myself."

Elsa nodded but didn't respond. There was a knock at the front door. "Anna." Her face became petrified. "She can't see _this_." She gestured to the frozen walls and floor. "She can't know."

Hans bit his lips. "Um, what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know." Elsa started pacing back and forth in front of the door. "I can't let her in. She'll be completely shocked."

"There has got to be some way to get rid of it."

"I have no control, the only time I've ever not felt like I was going to spurt explode into an icicle was when I was kissing you." Elsa slammed her hand over mouth, and Hans registered what she had just said.

"When you were what?" He wasn't quite sure that he had heard right.

"When I was…" Her breathy voice trailed off as her eyes fell on him. Her expression changed from fear to something he recognized as longing.

He knew that he should back away, but as she started to float towards him, his feet felt glued to the floor. Before he found the will to run from her, their lips were intertwined. The room instantly became warmer, thought that may have been due to the heat that was rising in his body due to having finally touched her again. When he immerged from the kiss, he saw that the ice had disappeared.

Elsa was gasping for air and clinging to the collar of his shirt as she looked around. Seeing that the room was back to normal, she jumped away from him. "That was a one-time thing." She muttered quietly.

He almost laughed, then quickly sobered as the urge to tell her of his correspondence with the conspirator overcame him. "Elsa, there is something I have to tell you." He grabbed her hands.

"No, don't say anything that will make me want to kiss you again." Elsa pleaded helplessly. "This is all too much."

"Elsa, there is an imposter trying to worm his way into the castle." He blurted out. "I wanted to tell you."

Elsa stared blankly at him. "Um, thank you for telling me."

"He's trying to kill you." He watched Elsa's eyes grow again. "I wanted you to know because I couldn't bear if anything happened to you."

There was another knock. Elsa went to get the door. Swinging it open, they found Anna standing, beaming back at them. To Anna's left was a bulky, blonde man whose face was red in embarrassment.

"Who's this?" Elsa's voice turned to ice and boomed in the face of her sister and her new companion.

"This," Anna said, still grinning, "Is Kristoff."

Elsa looked furious. "I told you not to bring anyone back with you." She hissed.

"Well, yeah, but he looked so cold and he needed some food." Anna tried to explain. "He is a poor mountain man."

"Hey." The man squinted at her. "I am not poor. I happen to run a very successful ice busin-."

"Get out!" Elsa's voice seemed to be flying from every room in the castle and it hit the stranger and her sister like a gust of wind.

"He's injured." Anna informed her, trying to salvage the moment. "He hurt his arm and I didn't know where else to bring him but here."

"This is _not _a hospital." Elsa replied, cracking the air with her tongue.

Anna narrowed her eyes.

"Anna," The stranger nudged her in the shoulder. "It's okay, I'll just go to the town clinic in the morning."

"You can't just turn people away who need your help, Elsa." Anna spat. "You're a queen now. And queens aren't supposed to shut people out."

Elsa didn't say anything. Instead she gave them both an icy glare that Hans knew would sent shivers up their spines.

Kristoff cowered under her but Anna was a strong fighter. "I can't just stand here and watch you let innocent people die."

"Anna, I'm not dying." Kristoff tried to butt in.

"Then _leave_." A wind came from behind and slammed the door in the faces of the two people. As soon as the door was shut, Elsa fell to the floor in sobs.

-o-

Her whole body was aching from holding everything in through that argument. She suddenly realized what she had just done. She had just left her sister out in the cold, kicked her out of the house forever, and slammed the door in her face.

Hans knelt beside her and rubbed her back slowly.

"I-. I-. I can't believe I just did that." Her voice shook, and she as she peered up at him he saw tears trailing down her cheeks.

"He was an intruder." Hans assured her. It seemed like Kristoff had to be the mysterious violent stranger. "You did the right thing."

"I swore I would never fully shut her out. I broke my promise."

Hans hushed her gently and continued to run his fingers down her back. "Everything will be okay."

"I'll tell the guards to increase security tomorrow to be safe." Elsa whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. The rise and fall of his chest was soothing.

"Good idea." She felt his body move as he nodded in agreement.

"I mean, I feel bad. But I'm also angry." She gritted her teeth. "How could she be so stupid? This is worse than when she decided to marry you." His chest heaved as he laughed. "No offense."

"None taken." He said quietly. "Elsa, you should go to sleep and thing about this in the morning."

She nodded slowly and started to stand up. She felt so helpless and weak from the fight. "Will you walk me upstairs to my room?" She whimpered.

He smiled and took her hand, guiding her up the stairs and down the hallway to her chambers.

The stood across from each other outside her bed room. "Goodnight." Hans's hand flew up to her cheek and caressed it softly.

She closed her eyes and tried not to sigh, but failed. "Goodnight." She said.

But neither of them moved.

Elsa suddenly wondered if Anna ever deserved Hans. Anna was a disobedient spoiled brat and Hans was none of those things. She was furious with her sister and somewhere in the pit of her stomach was a deep-seated need for revenge. Anna had always gotten everything. It was because of Anna that Elsa had spent her whole life locked in a tower, that Elsa had never been able to learn to use her powers. Everything had always been about Anna, and Elsa was sick of it.

Rage bubbling inside her, Elsa hooked Hans by the neck and slammed her lips against his. His eyes bulged a little but then he relaxed into it. Moments later, their bodies were pressed against each other. She felt like and animal as his hand slid down her sides and over her hips. As his tongue slid into her mouth, she thought she might explode. It felt so good. All the anger towards Anna turned into burning passion and lust, as she trailed her fingers across his neck and over the buttons on his shirt.

She wanted this. She wanted him. Her brain was all tangled. A part of her screamed not to do this to Anna, but then she thought of how idiotic and naïve Anna had been. Elsa convinced herself, in a matter of seconds that Anna had brought this whole thing on herself.

She slammed him against the door of her room and fumbled with the door knob, still kissing him. As she wrapped her leg around his waist, her dress ripped down the side. She didn't really care. The voice of reason in her head died and was taken over by an icy snake of desire.

He pulled away, breathless, and looked curiously at her.

This was it. This was her chance to end it all and run away from him. She could escape into the mountains and never see those sparkling green eyes ever again.

But she didn't run.

For the first time in forever, she didn't want to escape.

_**And there you have it. **_

_**Do you think Elsa will go through with it this time? Do you think Kristoff is a conspiring villain?**_

_**Let me know what you think will happen in the form of a review. I really loved the feedback last time. :)**_

_**Also by the way, I don't write M-rated stuff, so if anything happens it will happen in between the lines.**_


	5. Chapter 5- Fickle Change

**_Woah, these just keep getting longer._**

The sound of her tearing dress had pierced the air and startled them into freezing solid.

He was completely lost in her. He stared at her for a second, watching her ragged breath create a puff of steam in the air. She was frightening almost, her beautiful eyes wild with lust and desire. She looked as though she were about to eat him alive, but that wasn't what terrified him. It was how much he wanted her to that sent shivers up his spine.

Her eyes darted from his face to the door he was leaning on. He couldn't bear this waiting anymore. Perhaps it had only been a short time since he had realized that he had feelings for this woman, but it seemed like he had been holding himself back for eternity. There was so much that he knew he was missing out on by not being with her. He wanted to sit and talk for hours with her, to learn about her hopes and dreams, to kiss her neck and plunge into every orifice of her body, to lie next to her in peaceful slumber each night.

These feelings had never been a part of the plan, and half of his brain boiled at this sentimental thoughts, but he didn't care. He grabbed Elsa's head in his hands and pulled their lips together, feeling her leg curl around him again. Finally the door behind him gave way, and they stumbled into the freezing room. He could feel the sweat and moisture from his body steaming from exposure to the drop in temperature. Everything was swirling.

He took charge of her, whipping them around and kicking the door shut with his foot. Her other leg flew up around him so she was completely suspended in the air. Their bodies seemed to fit together like puzzle pieces.

Everything felt so perfect.

-o-

Elsa moaned. It felt too perfect to be real. She had always felt like a person trapped in an avalanche of snow, but his lips were so soft against her skin that the places he touched seemed to turn from ice to fire.

Her legs completely wrapped around him, she continued pressing kisses all over his neck and face. She clung to him to keep from falling to the floor and to prevent him from ever letting her go. He moved and within seconds she was lying on her back on the bed, her arms still around his neck. His hands desperately searched from an opening in her dress. Her mind was spinning so fast she couldn't remember where the zipper was.

"Just rip it." She breathed.

As his fingers tore the remaining fabric of the dress and his hands could finally reach the forbidden areas of her body she felt heat course through her. An excruciatingly painful fire seemed to radiate from the places his hands fell on her.

Something wasn't right. It felt like her whole body was melting, burning. At first, she said nothing because she wanted this so badly that she couldn't bring herself to push him away. She felt herself growing weaker as his hands traveled downwards, the ice inside her disappearing at his touch. She reached up to try and unbutton his shirt, but just as he did, his hands grazed over the bear skin on her waist and send lightning bolts through her.

She couldn't keep from letting out a blood curdling scream.

Hans jumped away from her, and his eyes suddenly widened in a horror. "Elsa." He said quietly.

Her throat was so tight she could barely breathe. She choked and sputtered, her whole body shaking. She wrapped the torn fabric around the exposed parts of her body and curled into a ball.

As she lay there in a heap on the bed, she realized what she had just been about to do. She had just locked her sister out of her home, and then seduced her fiancé. She was turning into a monster. Or maybe she had always been a monster, and it had taken a handsome kind gentlemen to make her stupid enough to let it show.

She still felt like she was on fire, which never happened to her. Normally she was impenetrable to heat. She glanced up at Hans who was still frozen in terror. She wasn't quite sure what he was staring at, but his eyes were wide and his whole body was still. "What?" She finally asked him.

"You're-. You're-." He stuttered, his posture and face still unmoving. "You're-." He paused and took a deep breath.

"I'm what?"

"Glowing." Hans managed.

Honestly, what was his motive behind complimenting her in this moment? Elsa wondered if perhaps he was trying to salvage the mood of their previous… situation. If he was it wasn't working, though she had to admit that, it was hard not to feel a little flattered that even while she lie completely disheveled and sweaty, he still found her to be glowing. She rolled her eyes.

Wait, sweaty? Why was she sweating? Elsa had never perspired in her life and now she could feel that her body was slimy and moist. She sat upright and, glancing down at herself, gasped and slapped her hand against her mouth. Her body was literally _glowing_. Bright orange and red light seemed to be traveling though her veins and sending a bright fiery glow though her skin. She almost screamed again, but a hand covered her lips stopping her.

"Don't scream." Hans whispered. "You don't want to draw more attention to us, do you?"

She swallowed and nodded. When he didn't move his hand, she licked it so that he would. "What is going on?" She asked.

"Don't ask me, you're the magical one." He replied, wiping his hands on his pants. As she watched him, her eyes accidently got glued to his thighs and she struggled to come to terms with the fact that her fingers had been all over them just a few moments earlier.

She shook her head, then nodded in agreement with his statement. "You're right." She bit her lip and looked again at her legs which were still radiating light. "The problem is I'm as clueless as you are in this situation. This has never happened to me before. I have never felt this much _heat_ before. It's like I'm on fire."

"Where do you keep your dresses, let's get you another." Hans suddenly let go of her, to her dismay, and began rushing around her room. She heard the sound of slush at his feet where the ice had melted.

"In the corner wardrobe." She sighed. This was such an absolute disaster.

"This wasn't part of the plan." She heard him whisper to himself.

She squinted "What plan?"

Hans spun around. "Plan? What's this about a plan?" He was obviously lying. What was going on? He threw a dress at her and she started to put it on.

Her breath was staggered, her arms weak and limp. Pulling the fabric over her body proved to be a challenge. Once she had the dress on she stood up straight. "Just then, you said something along the lines of, 'this wasn't part of the plan'." She informed him.

He seemed to suddenly lose track of their current dilemma and got lost in staring at her.

Not this again. She didn't have time for this. "Hans! What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you just-. Even when you're glowing you're still stunning."

Elsa blushed, though she was sure it didn't show through red and orange auras that now surrounded her. "Thank you." She said quietly. "Now back away so I can turn this into a dress made of ice." It was odd, sharing this much personal information with Hans, a stranger. Truthfully, though, he wasn't a stranger anymore. He was just a man, a man with an incredible body, and an even more dazzling personality. They had argued quite a bit, but it had been worth it just to feel his lips against hers. This was a confusing relationship. It resembled friendship, but there were certain benefits they had shared with each other that were very un-friendship-like. She waved her hand to cover her gown in frost, knowing that the icy feeling would make her feel so much better.

Hans's eyes widened.

Instead of ice spreading out of her fingers, a burst of steam shot from them. They didn't burn or sting her skin. "Oh my god." Elsa trembled. "What is this?" She stared at her hands in terror.

"This doesn't usually happen to you?"

"No, this doesn't _usually_ happen to me Hans." Elsa exclaimed, irritation swelling up inside her. "I'm practically made of snow. I have never even gotten a mild sunburn let alone… I don't even know what to call this." She glanced down at her body again and winced at swirl of colors which was still just as alarming as it had been when she had first seen it.

Hans scratched his head. "Do you have any idea what might have caused it?"

Elsa shook her head. "No, not unless it had something to do with-." She stopped short and swallowed hard. Suddenly, she remembered all those years ago when she had struck Anna with her powers. She had ridden on the back of her mother's horse into a hidden place deep in the forest and that old troll had saved her sister. "Wait, I think I might know somebody who can fix this."

She started to run out of the room but Hans grabbed her arm.

"What do you think you're doing? Let go of me." Elsa struggled to break away, but his grip was strong.

"I'm coming with you." He told her.

Elsa frowned. "No, you're not. I'll draw enough attention to myself as it is," She gestured towards her current state. "I don't need a suspicious prince trailing behind me."

"What do you mean, _suspicious_?" Hans scoffed, pulling her closer to him.

Elsa eyed him skeptically. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I am not suspicious." Hans insisted. "Come on, what about this face is suspicious." He gave her an adorably odd smile.

"You're married to my sister, yet you knowingly kissed me." She stated, knowing well that she had actually made the first move tonight.

Judging by the way his eyes darkened with anger, Hans knew it as well but he kept his lips tucked into a thin line.

Alarmed by his silence, Elsa swallowed and continued. "Besides, this is something I should do alone."

He wrapped his hand around her waist with a snake-like motion, leaving her barely able to contain herself. He pressed his mouth up to her ear and she thought he was going to resume their previous passions. By god, she wanted him to kiss her ear and move his lips down her neck, over her shoulders, across her… But he didn't. He took a deep breath and whispered in her ear, sending chills or sparks or something down her spine. "You're not alone. We're in this together."

His words confirmed her fear that this _thing_ that was happening to her was probably a result of nearly breaching the boundaries with Hans. They were in this together. She clenched her jaw and told herself it wasn't possible.

Luckily, she was no longer in intense pain, so she managed to push his arms off of her and jump away. She turned and started out the door, grabbing a jacket. Then she whirled around to face him again.

He was slumped down and staring at the floor, looking rather pathetic.

"Are you coming?" She asked curtly.

-o-

He nodded and rushed after her out the door, his heart pounding so hard he could barely breathe. He was still processing what had just transpired between him and the queen. It had been wrong, yet somehow right. Perhaps the fact that it was technically wrong was what made it feel so good. His plans and ambitions had temporarily left his mind, leaving him completely and utterly vulnerable.

He walked a few paces behind Elsa, recognizing the necessity of giving her some space, and followed her to the stables. Her orangey glow had dimmed a little by the time they mounted their horses, but as he rode behind her, he had to dodge the puffs of steam that she left in her tracks.

Squinting into the darkness ahead of him, Hans became aware that he was blindly following a potentially dangerous sorcerous deep into the heart of a dark forest. He thought perhaps he might follow this particular woman off of a cliff if it meant protecting her.

What? Hans gritted his teeth and reminded himself that it was these types of unwelcomed feelings that sends the greatest heroes to their graves. He could not afford to blindly chase after this virtually unattainable, enticingly dangerous _monster_. Despite how she appeared to the naked, easily charmed eye, she possessed the power to destroy entire nations with the flick of her wrist.

By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, they had come to a halt at the edge of a clearing. Elsa tied her horse to a nearby tree then turned to Hans, who was sitting frozen in the saddle. "You can wait here if you like." Her voice was smooth and gentle. He heard a trace of affection in it.

This was his chance, he realized, to kick the horse and race back to the safety of his castle chambers. Elsa would surely forget any of this ever happened, or pretend to forget. Her color was returning to normal. "No." He heard himself say and felt his feet hit the ground. "I'm coming with you." He couldn't keep from _following_ her, stepping over a large boulder and wandering into the center of the strange opening in the trees.

"I need help." Elsa whimpered into the sea of stones and moss. Nothing moved. "Please." He could hear her voice brimming with tears, and instinctively brought his arm up around her. He gave her a gentle squeeze and she lay her head to rest on his shoulder.

There was a loud rumbling and before he knew it, they were surrounded by a large population of… he couldn't exactly pinpoint what to call them.

"Trolls." Elsa said quietly, as if reading his mind.

He tried to rub her arm but, as his hand traveled across her, she frightened like a dear and wiggled out of his grasp.

Out of the crowd rolled an older-looking… troll. Elsa knelt down and let the troll touch her face with his stone hands. The glow was almost completely gone, but something about her still looked wrong.

"There is reverse magic present here." The troll noted solemnly, taking her chin between two of his fingers.

"Reverse magic?" Hans asked, stepping closer. "What do you mean-?" Elsa held up her hand and he felt his lips freeze shut. At least she was back to normal.

She didn't even look at him. She narrowed her eyes at the troll and held up the charred sleeves of her dress for him to see. "What's happened to me?"

"Your powers have grown since I last saw you." The troll noted, grabbing Elsa's hand and gazing at her palm. "You are very powerful."

Hans watched Elsa swallow and nod slowly. "I know." She bit her lip. "That's not why I'm here."

"Oh, I know why you're here." The troll informed her raising his eyebrows. "You're here because you have experienced an unusual shift in your powers." He traced one of the lines on her palm and frowned.

"Yes, I-. I-. I thought I felt like I was melting and then-." Elsa muttered breathily. "Then instead of ice there was just heat." Her body shook and Hans saw her eyes moisten with tears.

He tried to push the ice away from his lips with his tongue but it wouldn't budge. Elsa seemed completely oblivious to what she had done to him.

"And, I don't know what to do. I had only just learned how to conceal the ice. This-. This is just too much." Elsa whimpered. "Tell me I don't have control over fire too."

"You don't have control over fire."

Hans's eyes flew to the troll who spoke in a soothing tone and was now stroking Elsa's hair.

"I don't?" Elsa asked.

"No," The troll assured her.

Elsa stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. "Then what is it?"

"As I said, this shift is due to something known very unofficially as reverse magic." He explained. Hans squinted angrily. This troll was no help at all, repeating himself and babbling on blankly about nothing. "Your powers have been effected by the introduction of an unfamiliar emotion into your system."

Hans's eyes widened as he registered the meaning of the trolls words. It _was_ his fault that Elsa was like this. It had been their passion that had thrown her body out of whack. That longing, that heat had been too much for the icy magic that lurked within her to withstand.

"I don't understand." Elsa pressed him, stooping down again to stare the troll straight in the eyes.

"Elsa, have you ever heard the saying, 'love will thaw a frozen heart'?" His wrinkled brow, furrowed gently and he cupped her chin in his hand.

Wait, what? Hans blinked rapidly.

"Wait, what?" Elsa jumped up and stepped away.

The troll repeated his words, and Hans felt the ice melt away from his lips.

-o-

Elsa had braced herself for the discovery of a new dangerous power, she had prepared for the possibility of being an even bigger threat to her family and the country she now presided over. She had even accepted the idea that she might have to relock herself in her room until she died.

She had not, however, expected that the troll would accuse of falling in love. Her eyes flew momentarily to Hans, who was standing stick still a few paces away from her. Heat pulsed through her from embarrassment. She averted her gaze back to the Grand Pabbie and forced her brain to gather the jumbled thoughts in her head. "Ye-. Yes, I've heard the saying." She said, staring down at him. She knew that the fear in her expression was not at all discrete.

"This is a good thing." Pabbie assured her, though his soft words did nothing to still her racing mind. "Love will help you gain control of your powers." He offered her a gentle smile.

She shook her head slowly, feeling the ground beneath her feet harden as ice spread from her toes

Her heart was pounding painfully in her chest and her breath hitched in her throat. She fought to keep her eyes from flying to Hans who she could feel watching her. She knew he would see straight through her, notice the shift in her posture and the heat rushing into her cheeks.

Pabbie seemed content with the information he had given, and retreated into the crowd of curious faces.

She finally managed a glance at Hans, who was touching his lips with his finger and wearing a look of shock and awe. What was he thinking about? She wondered whether he was terrified or intrigued or confused. Since when had her existence been so bent on the approval of another human being?

She heard a cry from somewhere in the crowd and everyone, except she and Hans, started bouncing up and down. "Look! It's Kristoff."

_Kristoff._ She recognized that name. She ran over and grabbed Hans by the wrist, pulling out of the clearing and crouching down behind a bush.

"What are you doing?" Hans asked.

She elbowed him in the ribs and whispered for him to "Zip it." Her brain was turning, remembering the Kristoff whom she had met earlier that evening. He was the stranger Anna had tried to bring into the castle in late hours of the night. She felt anger bubble up inside her at the memory of her sister's obliviousness.

"Ow." Hans muttered.

She glanced down and realized she was still holding his hand, and was now squeezing it with incredible force. She gave him an apologetic look and bit her lip, turning back to the scene.

Sure enough, the bulky blonde scraggly man emerged from the woods and was showered with the hugs of the troll clan. She couldn't make out their words, but they seemed very happy to see him.

Then their attentions shifted to someone Elsa couldn't see. They all started howling and rushing in the direction of the mysterious figure, who stepped out into plain view and revealed herself to be… Anna.

"Oh my god." Elsa stood up abruptly, but Hans, still holding her hand, yanked her back down. "Let go of me." She glared at him.

"Do you really want to explain to Anna why we are here, _together_, in the forest in the middle of the night?" Hans asked pointedly. "Because you're going to have to if you reveal yourself."

Elsa sighed. "I should never have abandoned her like that." She repented. "It was a mistake."

She felt Hans's hand move to her back, rubbing gently in an attempt to soothe her. His gesture only served tense her up more. She wiggled her body, signaling that his hand was unwelcome, and his fingers slid off of her. As they trailed down the open back of her dress, however, she felt a bolt of heat course through her and fought the moan that manifested in her throat.

Nerves pulsed through her body as she watched her sister greeting the trolls with wide eyes. She could see the tear stains on her sister's cheeks and a wave of crashed over her. Trembling, she reached out and grabbed his hand in hers again.

-o-

As if by instinct his hand settled comfortably into hers when she grabbed it. He didn't feel ice jolting up through his veins and the as her hand relaxing into his, the longing and desire that had built up in his core softened. The urge to slide his hand up her arm and over her bear skin, to press his heat up against her and melt her ice, disappeared. He was perfectly content sitting here, surrounded by darkness, with her hand clasped in his.

He supposed he could have knelt there behind that bush for an eternity. This complete satisfaction was an unfamiliar euphoria to him. A smile spread across his lips as he gazed over at her, and her hair that seemed to glow under the light of the moon as it fell down her back, and her sparkling blue eyes. As her beauty overcame him, all thoughts of thrones and betrayal and letters from mysterious rebels left his mind.

He sighed and turned his eyes back to the clearing where Anna and the burly stranger were conversing with the trolls. He couldn't make out any specific words but from the looks of it, Anna was very taken by the trolls. She giggled and patted one of them on the head, then turned to Kristoff and said something. Kristoffs response induced another spurt of laughter in her and she was forced to grab onto his chest to keep from toppling over. Hans watched the stranger's cheeks go pink as Anna leaned against his sturdy body.

Elsa squeezed his hand. "Did you see that?" She asked.

Hans nodded. "Do you think they-?"

"No." Elsa asserted. "Anna would never do anything to hurt you. She loves you. She-…" Her hand fell limp in his and her voice trailed off.

He kept a tight grip on her. He wasn't about to release the one thing that calmed his animal urges. "It's okay Elsa. None of what we did was your fault." He assured her.

"Yes it was. I am a horrible sister. You are a horrible husband. _We_ are horrible people." Her words hung between them in the air.

After a long stretch of silence between them, during which the trolls began singing some strange tune with unclear words, Hans tugged gently on her hand which was still lying unmoving in his. "We should go." He suggested quietly.

Her weight shifted and the two of them began to crawl slowly away from the clearing, further and further into the dark forest. They found their horses tied up where they had left them. He finally released her hand, and watched as she gracefully mounted her horse. Only now did he realize she was completely barefoot.

"Do you want my socks to keep your feet warm?" He asked automatically.

Elsa laughed. "I'm fine." She wiggled her toes in the stirrups of the saddle. "The cold never bothered me anyway."

Hans smiled, and jumped on the back of his horse, and they started riding towards Arendelle at a leisurely pace.

"The sky is getting light." Elsa observed. "It must be morning."

Hans glanced up at the sun peaking over the kingdom in the distance. It was a magnificent sight. "Wow, that's incredible." He said in awe.

"You act like you've never seen a sunrise before." Elsa, who was slightly in front of him, turned around at the sound of his voice.

"I haven't." Hans admitted. "I've never been a morning person. I can't believe I've gone my whole life never seeing such a beautiful part of the day." He paused then added. "Though, I can't pretend to be surprised."

Elsa slowed her horses stride so she was next to him. "What is that supposed to mean?" She asked.

Hans trained his eyes on the distant sun. "It means that, I am particularly skilled at taking forever to notice that which is most beautiful." He looked over at her.

He could see her throat tightening, and the pain developing in her eyes as she fought not to meet his gaze. "You don't give yourself enough credit." She told him, staring straight ahead.

"I managed to overlook your beauty." He said quietly. "And I will regret missing out on you until I die."

_**Don't worry, the drama isn't over yet. That ending was a bit fluffy for my preference but I felt that a little fluff is necessary in times of struggle.**_

_**Hope enjoyed. The power of the Elsa compels you to review... Please.**_

_**Also, I am planning on bringing back Anmut in one of three ways.**_

_**-A villain, such that he is somehow involved in the conspiracy against Elsa**_

_**or**_

_**-A hero, such that he is amazing in every way and makes us all wish that Hans wasn't there so that Elsa would be with him**_

_**or**_

_**-A love interest for Elsa, which makes us hate him because he isn't Hans.**_

_**Any thoughts?**_


	6. Chapter 6- Jealousy and Poison

_**I have come to a sort of awkward place with this story because I know where I want to go with it, but I don't really know how to get there. BUT, I am now on spring break so you should be getting more frequent updates for the next week. Woohoo! Anyway, enjoy the chapter. It's kind of long and I hope it isn't too confusing.**_

As they neared the castle, Elsa regained her composure. It had been a long night, and the sun was now bleeding into the night sky overhead. The sound of her horse's hooves hitting the ground created a sort of rhythm.

Hans had fallen behind again, after his awkward speech about regretting having missed out on her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him staring vaguely off into the distance.

They didn't speak as they dropped the horses off at the stables, didn't share sentiments as they trudged up the path to the castle gates. The guards stepped aside and let them in without a word. They both walked slowly down the hallway towards the stairs.

"Elsa!" She spun around in surprise to find two smiling men standing across the hall from her. One of whom she recognized as Hans's elder brother, Anmut, and another one who was a complete stranger.

"Um," Elsa glanced at Hans, who seemed to be equally surprised by his brother's presence as she was. "Hello, Prince Anmut." She extended her hand out of courtesy.

He bowed deeply and kissed it. Her eyes almost bulged when she felt his wet tongue slide over her skin and she promptly pulled her hand away, trying not to be rude.

"Always a pleasure my lady." Anmut flashed a toothy grin with shiny white teeth.

"Anmut what are you doing here?" Hans asked harshly.

Anmut then turned to his younger brother, still smiling. "What? A man can't visit his brother without having some sort of ulterior motive?" He feigned hurt. "What do you think me for, Hans?"

"An ass." Hans said under his breath, his voice so soft that only Elsa could hear him.

She tried not to laugh. "It's always lovely to see you too, Anmut." She attempted to break the tension between the two brothers. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh," Anmut seemed to have forgotten about his brown haired companion who was leaning up against the wall, observing a painting. "This is Aedan. He's been my best friend since we were both very young. He offered to accompany me."

"May I ask what brought you here?" Elsa asked raising an eyebrow.

"You may certainly ask." Anmut replied. "Whether or not I'll tell you is an entirely different question to which there is no definitive answer."

The way his slick voice slid off of his tongue reminded Elsa that the two red-haired men she was currently looking at were strikingly similar. They looked almost like twins, though Anmut's features were a bit more chiseled and he was a slightly taller. His green eyes gleamed in the same excited way Hans's had during their argument before the wedding. The thought briefly crossed her mind that she was looking at a much more attainable Hans.

She shook her head. There was no reason that she should be trying to attain Hans.

Who was she kidding? She couldn't lie to herself anymore. The denial of her feelings was the reason why she kept finding herself in compromising situations. She had feelings for Hans. She felt triumphant admitting it, despite knowing that it had been obvious for quite some time. However, now she thought perhaps she might be able to do something about her run away desires.

She turned back to the conversation at hand. "I request that you tell me what has brought you here, Prince Anmut." She rolled her shoulders back and tried to look tall, but Anmut towered over her with an overpowering presence.

Anmut smiled. "Wow, I didn't realize how assertive you were your majesty." He licked his lips. "I appreciate that."

Elsa watched Hans's fists clench and felt a pang of pity.

Anmut walked away from Elsa and Hans, examining a painting on the wall. "Hans, would you mind getting us all something to drink."

Elsa glanced at Hans who looked completely and utterly offended.

Anmut barely noticed the disgusted face Hans was sporting and added. "Aedan will help you."

Aedan eyed Anmut suspiciously. "You wish to be alone with the queen, Anmut?" He asked pointedly.

"No, I wish for my brother to have help fetching us drinks." Anmut replied firmly.

Aedan shrugged and followed Hans out of the hallway.

"Anmut, it's barely dawn. It's much too early to be drinking." Elsa informed him once they were alone.

"It's never too early to drink." Anmut raised an eyebrow. "Why so stingy with the alcohol? Are you pregnant?"

"What on earth would give you an idea like that?" Elsa glared at him.

Anmut shrugged. "After what happened between you and the prince at the wedding I just thought that perhaps-."

Elsa walked up to him so close their noses were almost touching. "I don't know what you think you saw." She hissed. "But you're wrong. There is no way, come hell or high water, that I will _ever_ find myself carrying the child of my sister's husband."

"Good to know." Anmut conceded. "That really would have put a damper on the engagement."

Elsa nodded in agreement, then paused. "Wait, what engagement?"

"Ours." Anmut said simply.

"I'm sorry?" Elsa stepped away from him. "_Our_ engagement. What makes you think we have an engagement?"

"Oh, we don't. Not yet. But soon you'll realize you need a man to hide behind. I can't promise that I'll make you happy or that you'll fall in love with me, but I can guarantee that I'll keep you safe from your emotions Elsa."

"Is this some kind of proposal?" Elsa asked.

"Only if you want it to be Elsa." Anmut assured her. "But if I'll remind you that as long as you remain unattached, my brother will never stop fawning over you, and your sister will forever be in danger of losing her husband to the person she trusts the most."

"I would never-." Elsa insisted.

"You say that," Anmut moved towards her, resting his hands on her hips. "But can you honestly tell me that if I were Hans right now, you would be able to resist the urge to throw yourself into his arms and kiss him passionately?"

"I-. I-." Elsa stuttered under the weight of his hands on her. She closed her eyes for a second and imagined that it was Hans pressed up against her, his hot breath warming her skin, his hands dancing over her body, his lips pressed up against hers.

Wait, lips? She opened her eyes and found that she was kissing Anmut. His tongue jabbed into her mouth, but it felt out of place there. She pushed him away.

"What was that?" She asked breathily.

"You were imagining Hans weren't you?" Anmut grinned. "Wow, you really are in love with him. That sure is a shame because in case you haven't noticed, he's married."

Elsa punched him in the chest, but her fist bounced right off of his toned body.

"I have nice muscles, don't I?" Anmut winked.

"You are so forward it's infuriating." Elsa informed him.

He closed the gap between them again, this time with so much force that it took all her strength to thrust him off of her.

"You are disgusting."

-o-

Hans shook his head, trying to shake the image from his mind. He had just walked in on his brother and Elsa with their tongues down each other's throats. It had certainly been an unexpected sight, to say the least.

More than surprised, Hans felt a quelling anger filling his veins as he stormed back to the kitchen where Aedan was conversing with the servant over what beverages to get out of the cellar.

"Did you ask them what they wanted?" Aedan asked politely.

"They were a bit _busy_?" Hans said through his teeth. "They were having a very heated-. _Conversation_. I didn't want to interrupt them."

"Well, why don't I go get them and we will all meet you in the dining room." Aedan didn't seem to get the message and left the kitchen.

Once Aedan was gone, Hans took a few moments to contain himself then walked into the dining room just as Anmut, Aedan and Elsa entered from the hall.

He moved to pull out the chair at the end of the table for Elsa, but Anmut beat him to it. He sighed deeply, trying to keep from resenting his brother's charm, though he could feel his jaw tightening at the sight of Elsa's grateful smile. His brother and he sat across from each other on either side of her.

"To be honest," Elsa admitted, her face still slightly red from what Hans guessed was a heated passionate moment with his brother. "I could really use a drink right now."

As Anmut laughed and placed his hand over hers, Hans squirmed in his seat.

-o-

She couldn't help but squirm from how painfully awkward this situation was. She knew that her hair was slightly tousled and her face was beet red, and she could feel her whole body trembling ever so slightly.

What was wrong with her? Why had if felt so downright wrong to kiss Anmut? To be completely honest, he was an absolutely divine kisser and his lips felt quite satisfying pressed up against hers. But somehow, she felt as if she was committing a morally incorrect act.

Had her affair, if you could call it that, with Hans really gone as far as for her to feel guilty when being involved with another man? If it had, she was beyond hypocritical because the major flaw in their relationship was that he was, in fact, _married_ to another woman.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Elsa felt a hand on her knee. She glanced over to see Anmut, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. She gave him a stern look, but his hand only climbed ever so slightly up her leg.

As if on cue, Elsa felt a significantly more familiar hand rest itself on her other knee. She swallowed hard as Hans started gently caressing her other leg.

What kind of a mess had she gotten herself into? She now realized what a huge mistake it had been to spend any amount of time alone with two incredibly competitive, sexually repressed brothers.

-o-

The servant entered and placed glasses of wine on the table in front of them, and he promptly removed his hand from her thigh.

Hans stared warily at his drink for a moment, remembering that an unknown villain that could very well be lurking somewhere in the castle at this very moment. He eyed the dark purplish red liquid for a few seconds.

"Elsa, don't drink that!" Hans's head snapped up at the sound of his brother's powerful voice.

Elsa, with the glass half way to her lips, looked thoroughly confused and somewhat irritated. "Why?"

Anmut bit his lip and glanced around the room. "I think it may be poisoned."

"Oh my god." Hans muttered under his breath.

"What makes you think that?" Elsa asked coolly, setting down her glass.

"Back at the university, I studied chemical compounds of different elements. There are certain poisons that change color when exposed to changes in temperature. Your drink darkened when you touched it."

Elsa's eyes widened and Hans knew she was wondering whether the Anmut knew something he shouldn't.

"How on earth did you notice its change in color?" Hans redirected the conversation, still unconvinced that his brother wasn't just trying to be a hero.

Anmut turned to Elsa. "To be honest, I wouldn't have seen it had my eyes not been glued to your… _hands_."

Elsa slowly folded her arms protectively over her chest.

"He's right." Aedan said quietly, lifting up the glass and observing it, swishing around the liquid inside it. As he stared at the glass, the wine's color changed ever so slightly into a lighter purple.

Elsa gasped and lifted her hand to her mouth.

Hans scowled. "That could have just as easily been a change in the lighting.

"Look Elsa," Anmut's eyes were dark and serious. "You have to believe me."

"Well, I can't say I have many reasons to trust you," Elsa took a deep breath and glanced back and forth between Anmut and her glass.

Hans smirked.

"But, better to be safe than sorry I suppose." She decided and stood up. "I'll have Kai summon the castle apothecary in the morning."

The idea of someone trying to poison them really ruined all of their moods.

"I think it's about time I retired." Elsa stood up abruptly after they sat awkwardly around the table for several minutes.

Hans and Anmut immediately stood simultaneously.

"Shall I escort you?" Hans offered before his brother could open his mouth. He felt a smug satisfaction over having won this battle.

Elsa tilted her head curiously at him and for a split second Hans feared she would say no. But then she gave him a gentle smile. "Very well, thank you." She replied reluctantly.

When they were finally alone, Hans heaved a huge sigh. "Thank god that's over."

"Honestly Hans," Elsa's voice floated through the air. "I wish you wouldn't be so judgmental and cynical about your brother. He may have saved my life tonight."

"Elsa, do you like my brother?" Hans asked bluntly.

Elsa didn't even flinch. "Of course I do, he can be a bit pompous sometimes but when it comes down to it, I think he has a kind heart."

"No, I mean do you _like_ my brother?" Hans repeated. "As in, in a romantic sense."

Elsa froze. "Why would it matter if I did?" She asked pointedly, turning to face him.

"Don't pretend you don't know the answer to that question." Hans replied, his eyes boring into hers.

She seemed to grow weak at the knees and almost collapsed, so he grabbed her by the shoulders and held her up.

He surprised himself by how much he meant the next words that came out of his mouth. "I want you to be happy Els, and if my brother makes you happy. Then so be it."

"Why would you say something like that Hans?" Elsa said through her teeth.

"Why wouldn't I?" He wasn't quite sure why she was so angry at him. For the first time in his life, he had been trying to do the right thing and she was reprimanding him for it.

"Oh please, Hans. You must realize that your telling me you want me to be happy only serves the purpose of making me fall more and more-." She stopped and recollected herself instantaneously. "I need to order a search party to find my sister." She declared suddenly.

"You're falling in love with me?" Hans asked, completely stunned, not by what she had said, but by how it made his heart flutter in his chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He could tell she was doing everything in her power to maintain her icy guard.

"You're falling in love with me." He stated.

"No, I'm not _falling_ in love with you." She huffed. "I've been in love with you for a while now."

Had she really just admitted that? Hans's insides did a summersault, and he could feel himself smiling.

"No, Hans, stop smiling. This isn't a good thing." She informed him.

He couldn't keep his grin from spreading through his whole body. He heart was pounding so excitedly that he thought it might pulse right out of his chest.

"It doesn't matter how I feel about you."

"But you love me?" Hans said through his smile. He felt like he was floating.

Elsa paused for a moment then nodded reluctantly. "Yes, but-."

He cut her off by kissing her.

His lips had barely made contact with hers when she stepped away. "Hans I'm marrying your brother." She said quickly.

"You're what?" The lightness in him disappeared and was replaced by rage.

"I'm…" Elsa swallowed. "I am engaged to your brother."

"How did this happen?" Hans gritted his teeth.

"It just sort of happened." She stammered. "He proposed and-. And-. I'm going to accept."

Hans immediately let go of her. He started to walk away from her then spun around, feeling as though smoke might pour out his ears. "I can't believe you."

"Why?" Elsa clenched her fists at her sides but didn't move. "You married my sister."

"I married your sister before I realized I loved you." Hans raised his voice. "That's completely different."

"Why?" Her voice boomed. "Because you wanted to break two hearts instead of one?"

"It's different because I never intended to hurt you or Anna with what I did." This was a lie. He had absolutely meant to hurt both of them in the beginning, but his intentions had changed. "I care too much about you to see you marry another man."

Elsa's voice softened, but her words cut through him like a knife. "How do you think I feel seeing you with Anna?" He saw a tear roll down her cheek and every muscle in his body wanted to rush over to her and encase her in a comforting hug. "But we _can't _be together, and I am not going to sit around and be miserable wishing we could. I know you think that if I'm not happy with you, I shouldn't be happy with anyone but it isn't true. I deserve to be happy. _Anna_ deserves to be happy, and so do you."

That was where she was wrong. He didn't deserve to be anything. He was a rotten good for nothing idiot who had ruined everything for the sake of a god-damn throne. "Let's run away together." He suggested. "We can elope into the mountains and never think about any of these people ever again. My brother, your sister, Arendelle, we can forget them and just be together."

"No." Elsa looked as if it was hurting her to speak. "I have responsibilities to my family and to my kingdom. As much as I want to, I can't just up and leave everything."

Hans didn't say anything. He just stood there. He made a decision that, if she wanted to be with him, she would have to make the first move. He wanted her to come to him.

-o-

"In fact, I don't really know why responsibility is such a difficult concept for you to grasp." She pondered aloud, her emotions steering back towards anger. "You of all people should know the importance of family."

"I do." Hans conceded. "I want you to be my family."

"You are." She reminded him. "You're my brother in law."

Hans just stared at her, and she could almost feel him undressing her with his mind. She folded her arms over her chest.

"Hans." She warned. "Hans, what do you expect me to do?"

He didn't budge or speak.

"You expect me to tell you I love you and fall into your arms and start a stormy affair with you behind my sisters back? Do you want me to leave everything that my mother and father and family have worked so hard for behind just for one kiss? Because I can't do any of those things. I'm not that person. I'm not spontaneous or rash or interesting. I'm a just a boring old queen." She looked up to see that she had involuntarily walked over to him and was now so close she could feel the heat radiating off of his body. She also realized that she had been crying and cursed herself for the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

"See, that's where you're wrong." Hans breathed. "I think sometimes you forget that you are a fascinating, dynamic, complicated, fun, mind-blowingly stunning woman. You are so much more than you give yourself credit for."

"Maybe. But, I'm not a whore, Hans. I'm not sleeping with my sister's husband." Her voice quivered.

"I'm not asking you to sleep with your sister's husband. I'm asking you to be happy. You deserve to be happy as much as Anna does."

As much as Elsa knew he was right, she couldn't bring herself to betray her sister. "There are other ways that I can be happy." She muttered.

He wiped a tear off of her cheek and she felt shivers jolt through her.

He was starting to infuriate her. The way that he seemed not to care about anyone but the two of them. How could he so easily let go of his wife and his family. She swallowed hard and glanced up, knowing that she might not be able to look away. She licked her lips, immediately regretting her decision to look into his eyes. "Hans."

"Elsa."

"No, I-. I can't."

"Why not?"

"You know why." She could feel her defenses breaking down. "I have to think about-."

"You spend so much time thinking. Why don't you just let your brain take a break and follow your heart?"

God, he was convincing.

_**Thoughts?**_

_**This story is dragging a little and I think it is because Elsa and Hans have never gone through with anything. Hopefully this wasn't too OOC for Elsa. Will all of you hate me and stop reading if they actually do something more than make out? I hope not because I think that is where I'm going with this.**_

_**Also, what are your thoughts on Anmut? I think I did a good job of combining hero and potential love interest. And you never know, he may turn out to be a little bit of a villain too.**_

_**Thanks all.**_

_**See ya next time.**_


	7. Chapter 7- The Catalyst

_**Before you start reading, I have a spoiler, that is if you want one. If you want a spoiler, google what the name Aedan means. **_

_**Yeah, that's all.**_

_**I'm sorry if you hate what happens during this chapter. But all characters have flaws and lapses in judgment. I hope that you can still sympathize with the characters even when they do stupid things.**_

"Fine." Hans finally said after staring into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity. "We don't have to _do_ anything. Let's just talk."

Elsa visibly relaxed. "About what?" She inquired.

"I don't know. Anything." He could almost feel the cogs in his brain turning, coming up with a manipulative plan to get Elsa into bed. He hated himself for listening to his inner demon but couldn't help it. The evil side of him, and the side of him that loved Elsa were becoming blurry. "Why don't we see if we can find some alcohol that isn't poisoned? I think we could both use a little bit of liquor induced relaxation."

Elsa laughed at this.

-o-

Elsa opened her eyes and immediately felt a splitting head ache. She was having an unfortunate case of deja vu. She really needed to shake this new habit of getting drunk late at night or early in the morning. It was rather appalling. Luckily, today, she had no wedding to attend.

Anna. She sat up abruptly and felt the blood rush to her head. She moaned, remembering the events of the previous night. She had forced her own sister out of the castle, almost betrayed her with Hans, kissed Hans's brother, almost been poisoned and admitted to being in love with Hans.

It had been quite a sequence of events, and she needed to clean up the mess she had made one step at a time.

First, things first, she had to reconcile with Anna, but who could do that on an empty stomach. She called for her ladies maid, got dressed and went downstairs.

She found Hans looking rather disheveled at the table, and offered him a smile. "Are you alright?"

Hans grumbled something inaudibly and Elsa tried her best not to make anything of it. She was on a mission and could not be distracted by Hans, no matter how pathetic he looked.

Hans gulped down the rest of his breakfast and excused himself a moment later.

Kai entered the room soon after to give her that days agenda.

"Before we start Kai," Elsa said, setting down her fork. "There are a few things I need you to take care of."

"Ma'am I believe I have something to tell you that may be just as, if not more, important than whatever it is you need me to do."

"First," Elsa stopped him, raising a hand. "Is to summon the royal apothecary to examine a wine that is believed to be a poison."

Kai's eyes widened. "An assassination attempt."

"Quite possibly." Elsa said, only just realizing the caliber of what it would mean if there really was someone trying to poison her. She shoved a bite of food in her mouth.

"And the second thing, your majesty?"

"Second," Elsa swallowed the food in her mouth. "Is to get my horse ready so I can lead a search for my sister."

"About that, your maje-."

"No need to argue with me Kai, it won't do any good." Elsa felt incredibly guilty for having hurt Anna, and nothing would stop her from retrieving her even if it meant searching alone.

"What I mean to say is that you have a visitor."

Elsa eyed her servant curiously. "What kind of a visitor would be more important than finding my sister?"

"Let me go, let me go!" She heard a familiar voice shout in the hallway. "I need to see her." Seconds later Anna burst through the doors to the dining room. "Elsa," She said breathily. "We need to talk."

"Oh, thank god you came back." Elsa stood up and ran over to Anna, encasing her in a hug, forgetting for a moment that she could accidently freeze her to death. "I am so sorry, Anna." She whispered into her hair.

"Me too." Elsa could see tears forming in her sisters eyes. "I-. I never meant to scare you by bringing that stranger into the castle. I just-."

"Don't you dare apologize. You have nothing to feel sorry about." Elsa assured her. "This is completely, one hundred percent, my fault."

Anna swallowed and smiled, shaking her head ever so slightly. She opened her mouth as if to speak

"I'm never letting you go again." Elsa informed her.

Anna pulled Elsa into another bear hug. There was nothing quite as wonderful as Anna's hugs, and it had been too long since Elsa had gotten one of them.

"Hans!" Anna quickly let go of Elsa and ran over to where Hans had emerged from the hallway, slamming her lips onto his and wrapping her legs around him.

Elsa thought she might vomit.

"I missed you." She heard Hans say.

Elsa scowled at how easy it was for him to pretend he loved her sister. If he had missed Anna while she was gone, he certainly hadn't shown it.

Anna let go of him. "I missed you to."

Elsa took a deep breath. This was a little too saccharine for her to tolerate. "I think I'm going to leave you two alone." She slowly started to back out of the room.

"Elsa, wait!" Anna cried, jumping away from Hans and rushing to her sister's. "I really need to talk to you about something important."

"Very well." Elsa chuckled at Anna's wide eyes and urgent expression.

Anna glanced briefly over at Hans. "Alone." She whispered.

"Oh," Elsa realized. "Yes, of course, just please walk with me to my study because I have a lot of work I need to get done."

"Elsa," Anna said slowly, once they found themselves alone. "I have a question."

"Is it about your love life? Because I honestly have no advice to offer you about that."

"Alright, well, yes-. It is." Anna frowned. "But hang on, I'll try to put it in terms of something you can understand."

"Okay." Elsa stifled a laugh as Anna scrunched her face up pensively.

"Alright so, imagine that you had a dog-. No, a cat-. No, a pillow." Anna began. "And you really, really like the pillow. It is super soft, and kind of bulky but in a cute way, and a little dorky-. Anyway, you really want to sleep on that pillow, but the problem is that, you can't because that would be wrong. To use that pillow would be a bad idea because you already have another pillow that you have to sleep with. But you're thinking, maybe the first pillow I got wasn't the right pillow for me, maybe that pillow, while it's great is not quite my type… Of pillow." Anna took a deep breath. "What should you do?"

"I'm sorry?" Elsa raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Okay, I'll try again." Anna bit her lip and squinted. "Okay, so imagine that you are a queen."

"I am a queen." Elsa dead-panned.

"Oh yeah, you are." Anna laughed lightly. "Any way so, you have this _law_ that you're trying to pass. And you really, really, really want to pass the law because it could very well be your one and only true-… LAW. But you can't because you already passed a different law that conflicts with this new law that you just met-. Er-, introduced."

Elsa understood that time. "Oh, I see." She tilted her head to the side.

"It's just that, even though passing that law would be wrong. You still want to pass it. And you just have so many feelings that you can't totally control your desire to… Pass the law."

Why did Anna always have to say exactly what Elsa was feeling? Elsa sighed. "You're in love with another man?"

"Yes-. I mean I think so-. I mean, maybe?" Anna floundered for a moment before hanging her head. "Yes."

"Who?"

"Remember Kristoff, the guy that I brought down here for you to help." Anna asked, smiling guiltily.

-o-

Hans had been standing completely still in the dining room for quite some time now. He wasn't really sure where to go.

He had done something very bad. Very, very bad. He felt so completely guilty he didn't know if he could live with himself.

He had done something stupid, beyond stupid. He had taken advantage of the most perfect human being on the face of the earth.

She wasn't human, he reminded himself. She was a bloody goddess with powers that could kill him if she found out what he did.

She had made the first move last night, even though she obviously didn't remember it. He had walked her up to her room and she had tripped and fell on top of him. They had been there and he could smell the alcohol on her breath and she had kissed him. And even though he knew that it was wrong and he knew that she wouldn't remember it in the morning, he went with it.

He took solace in the fact that alcohol lowers inhibitions. It didn't change her personality, it merely made her more willing to do the things that she had wanted to do all along.

"Good morning, Hans."

Hans had forgotten that his elder brother was staying with them until now. He turned around and smiled weakly at Anmut who was leaning up against the door way. Aedan was standing behind him.

"Hello, Anmut." Hans spat.

"I-." Anmut started to say something then stopped, cocking his head from one side and looking Hans up and down.

"You what?" Hans asked, knowing what his brother was realizing.

"Oh. My. God." Anmut smiled. "My little brother, all grown up."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hans averted his eyes, hoping he wasn't completely transparent.

"You dirty, dirty boy, you." Anmut chuckled. "I can't believe you. Or rather, I can't believe her. I don't know what would compel a woman to steep that low."

Hans gritted his teeth, but didn't say anything.

"Judging by your silence, my assumptions are correct." Anmut concluded.

It took every ounce of control he had left not to strangle Anmut right there. And he probably would have succumb to his reflexes if it hadn't been for Elsa and Anna walking in.

"Elsa, I can't believe you didn't tell me you were being targeted." Anna was saying.

"I didn't know." Elsa replied.

"What happened?" Anmut and Hans asked simultaneously.

The two sisters seemed to notice for the first time the presence of the three men.

"Oh, um, good morning Anmut." Elsa said hurriedly, bowing her head slightly. "Aedan."

"Elsa, you can't just _not_ tell me that there is someone out there trying to kill you." Anna looked frantic, waving her arms around wildly and staring expectantly at her sister.

"Gentlemen," Elsa announced, turning her head away from Anna, "It has been confirmed that the wine last night was, in fact, poisoned." She spoke surprisingly calmly for someone who was in imminent danger. "They found traces of poison in my glass and in Prince Hans's."

Hans frowned in confusion. As far as the conspirator knew, they were still on the same side. Had this enemy been trying to wipe out the only person in the house who knew of his plans? That would surely complicate things.

Anna just about had a heart attack. "You and Hans?" She breathed. "I-. You two need to get into a protected area. Now!" She came up behind Hans's back and pushed him straight into Elsa as if them being next to each other would somehow insure their safety.

Hans sighed deeply and he could smell her. She smelled very good like fresh snow and flowers all mixed together. He couldn't help but smile.

"Slow down Anna." Elsa shimmied uncomfortably away from Hans. "We still have a chance of finding and arresting the culprit before we take any drastic measures regarding safety."

"How?" Anna started pacing the room. "How are you supposed to find one bad guy in a sea of innocent people?"

"I'm getting there." Elsa stated.

"Oh." Anna stopped moving and stood still.

"In order to ensure the safety of everyone in this castle, all visitors and kitchen staff are to be taken into custody and interrogated." Elsa said slowly. She then turned to Anmut and Aedan. "I'm terribly sorry about this. _I_ know that you're innocent, but it's protocol."

"Perfectly understandable." Aedan waved his hand dismissively.

"They just want to ask you a few questions and then you'll be released." Elsa smiled reassuringly.

Several guards entered and stood on either side of Anmut and Aedan.

Elsa winced and clutched her stomach momentarily. "Sorry, I just got a sudden… Never mind." As she rubbed the spot that was bothering her, then straightened her spine and lifted her head in a very royal fashion. "Very well, have you-." She winced again. One of the guards started to run to her side, she lifted up a hand. "I'm fine honestly. I just feel a bit strange."

Hans felt guilt wash over him. Had he hurt her? Oh god, this was bad. Anmut smirked and raised an eyebrow in his direction as the guards started escorting him and Aedan away.

"Wait, before you go." Elsa bit her lip. "May I have a moment in solitude with Prince Anmut?"

The guard nodded and Anmut and Elsa stepped away into the hall.

-o-

Now fully recovered from her moment of discomfort, Elsa stood completely erect ready to implement her decision. "Listen, Anmut." She was feeling surprisingly nervous. "I've been considering your proposal."

"I understand the reasons for your refusal, your majesty." Anmut bowed deeply.

"No, that's not what-. I mean-. I've decided to accept." She muttered.

Anmuts face lit up, and Elsa saw a glint of something unfamiliar in his eyes. "I can't express in words quite how happy you've made me."

Elsa offered him a gentle smile. "You were right." She admitted. "About Hans, about Anna, about the poison. About everything."

He leaned in to kiss her and she felt something that resembled a spark. "We'll learn to love each other Elsa." Anmut promised.

"You're being uncharacteristically kind today." She noted.

"I suppose I'm just happy, that's all." He grinned sheepishly and Elsa felt the urge to kiss him again.

So she did, and this kiss was fueled by more passion then the first. Her arms curled around him and his fingers wrapped themselves in her hair. As she pulled away, she realized that maybe she _could_ learn to love this snarky, pompous man.

"Alright you should go." She told him, separating from him completely.

"The sooner I get this over with the sooner we can do _that_." Anmut wiggled his eyebrows, obviously referring their kissing.

Elsa laughed and a little bit of heat rose in her cheeks.

Together, they walked back into the dining room and she knew that she had that stargazed dreamy look in her eyes from the way Anna squealed a little at the sight of her.

Once they had taken Aedan and Anmut downstairs, Anna swiftly grabbed Elsa by the arm and ripped her away to resume their conversation.

"First things first." Anna said once they were out of earshot of Hans. "What is going on with you and the Prince?"

Elsa's eyes widened, immediately assuming Anna meant Hans. "What do you mean? What prince?"

"Anmut of course. Who else, silly?"

"Anmut." Elsa paused, formulating her thoughts. "Well, we're-. We're, um-. We're engaged."

Anna squealed. "Oh my god, Elsa that's amazing." She twirled around and hugged Elsa so hard that she couldn't breathe.

"Anna." Elsa gasped for air. "Enough with the suffocating hugs."

"I'm sorry." Anna let go. "It's just, I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks." Elsa smiled.

"I didn't even know that you and Anmut were a thing." Anna said as they resumed walking.

"Me neither." Elsa laughed. "It just sort of happened. I only just accepted his proposal a few minutes ago."

Anna giggled.

"What?" Elsa asked, nudging her.

"I was just wondering if you kissed him."

"Anna!" Elsa elbowed her harder this time and blushed deeply.

"I'll take that as a yes." Anna smiled triumphantly. She paused briefly then asked a question Elsa was trying to find the answer to herself. "Are you in love with him?"

"I barely know him." Elsa admitted. "And I'm not entirely sure yet."

"But you're marrying him anyway?" Anna inquired. "Why?"

"Because I think I _could_ fall in love with him." Elsa explained. "And I need a husband. Arendelle needs a King. It's always good to have a man's opinion on legislation." She was completely making up reasons as she went along. What she couldn't tell Anna was that she needed a husband so she would be less easily tempted by Hans.

"Oh." Anna thought for a moment. "That's very noble of you."

Elsa didn't say anything.

"I'm sure that it helps that Anmut is an absolute hunk." Anna continued.

Elsa burst into a fit of embarrassed giggles. "I won't deny the fact that he's undoubtedly very handsome."

"Elsa's falling in lo-ove." Anna sang. "I'm really happy for you."

"Thank you Anna." For the first time in a long while, Elsa felt safe to grab her sister's hand. Somehow she didn't fear that she would freeze it.

As they walked in silence for the next few minutes, Elsa couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach over her impending marriage. Even more exciting than her new found romance, was the fact that it wasn't a forbidden love. She could move on from Hans and never worry about ruining her sister's life ever again.

"Speaking of love," She said. "I think that, in the case this little love triangle you have created for yourself with Kristoff and Hans-."

_BANG!_

-o-

The whole castle shook. Hans knew that the noise had been an explosion of some kind. He recognized it from the brief period of time he had spent trying to join the military before he decided he wanted to be a king.

The enemy must have struck again, this time targeting only Elsa. Hans leaped out of his chair, his mind buzzing with all the horrible things that could have happened to her. He could never forgive himself if she had been blown to smithereens or-.

He stopped short when he saw Anna and Elsa running towards him in the opposite direction.

"Are you alright?" Elsa panted, clearly fighting not to rush into his arms.

"Yes." He said quickly. "I thought maybe he might have done something to you." He was longing to hug her, to pull her into him and-. "I see you're fine though."

"Yes." Elsa swallowed, staring directly into his eyes.

They stood completely frozen for a second.

"Um, wait guys." Anna tapped him on the shoulder. "If we weren't the ones getting blown up, and you weren't the one getting blown up, then who was?"

"Queen Elsa!" Shouted a guard down as he raced down the corridor.

"What was that?" Elsa whirled around, towering over the soldier who was trembling ever so slightly.

"He-. He was-. Fire-." The man panted, his eyes wide as saucers. "It-. It came-."

"Breathe, Landon." Elsa put her hands on his shoulders. "Breathe, and then tell me what-." She stopped. "What are these?" She gestured to the charcoal colored marks and holes in the man's jacket. "Are these burns?"

Landon nodded fearfully. "Yes. The man, he, he exploded."

Anna gasped.

"How?" Elsa pressed.

"Fire." Landon stuttered. "He had an immense power. Flames burst out of his fingers and toes, melting the chains that bound him. He scorched the entire room, sending everyone into a panic. He was a magical monster in human form, shooting torrents of fire from his hands as if the flames were a part of him."

Elsa's eyes widened. "Who?"

"Prince Anmut's companion, Aedan."

"You're saying this man could wield fire?" Her gaze met Hans's and he knew what she was thinking.

There was another person in this world with magical powers.

Landon nodded. "Yes, your majesty."

"Take me there, now."

-o-

Elsa followed Landon down the dark gloomy staircase. They made their way to the interrogation rooms where everything was in complete disarray. The majority of the kitchen staff was huddled in an open cell on the far left corner.

Her mind was racing. This man had magical powers, much like her own. Yet, they were nothing like her own. This man could control fire. Fire could melt ice, and she could feel the color draining from her face at the thought of not being able to protect her family and her kingdom as she raced down the hallway.

"Here it is your majesty."

There was a huge hole where the door should have been. Elsa glanced around and saw four or five guards strewn unconscious across the floor, dark scorch marks and burns covering their armor. Her eyes fell on each of their faces until-.

"Anmut." She heard Hans shout as he fell at his brother's side.

"Oh my god." Anna whispered.

Elsa knelt down beside Hans next to Anmuts body and extended a hand to check his pulse.

"He's alive." She and Hans let out simultaneous sighs of relief. "See if he's breathing."

"Elsa," Anna tapped her on the shoulder.

"Wait a moment please."

"No, Elsa you should really look up."

Elsa followed her sister's command and saw that on the wall that was not completely shattered was a message scratched ominously into the concrete. The words glowed ever so slightly like embers.

Elsa stood up and walked over to the wall so as to more easily read the words.

_To Her Majesty the Ice Queen,_

_I'm honestly sorry that it had to come to this. I am partial to subtle and discrete forms of destruction. But you gave me no choice. Don't pretend you wouldn't have done the same thing if you had been in my shoes. Lying doesn't suit you Elsa._

_Trust me._

_This could have been so much easier. If you had just drank the poison and died none of this would have happened. But you didn't and now, unfortunately for both of us, I find myself forced to act violently. This is unfortunate for you because I am going to terrorize everything that is important to you, and unfortunate for me because I might miss my afternoon nap._

_Anyhow, I can hear your footsteps in the hallway so I really better dash. But, leave you with some advice I learned from experience._

_There is only enough room in this universe for one monster. (Yes, that's what you are.)_

_And it's me._

_My condolences,_

_Aedan_

_**The End.**_

_**Just Kidding. I would never do that to you guys. Ya'll are so wonderful. Thanks for the support! I've really enjoyed writing this so far. I think this twist will add a new layer to the story. Any thoughts?**_


	8. Chapter 8- Cornerstones

_**A lot of people who are normally very active reviewers did not respond to that last chapter and I am curious about why. If you have criticism or hate me or something like that i would love to know. :)**_

_**Enjoy the story!**_

Anmut, the only person to survive the explosion aside from the guard Landon, had been comatose for a week. Hans was sitting by his bedside. The rising sun crept through the gap in the closed curtains, casting small rays of light over the floor that failed to lighten his mood.

"Do you think he's okay?" He heard Anna whisper outside the door. "He hasn't left the room since they brought Anmut here."

"I would do the same thing if it were you in that bed." Elsa replied softly. "Give him some time."

"Give who some time?" Anna asked cautiously. "Hans or _Anmut_?"

"Both of them." Elsa's voice was gentle, but quivering slightly.

"I'm so sorry, Elsa. Do you think he'll pull through?"

Hans stood up abruptly and slammed the door shut so that he wouldn't be forced to listen to their conversation.

He returned to his seat next to the bed and took Anmut's hand. He squeezed it, but his brother's fingers didn't twitch in response.

As much as Anmut drove Hans crazy with his manipulative antics and sexual innuendoes, the man was completely innocent. Aside from his harmless tricks and jokes, he had never harmed another person or intended to harm another person.

Why had it been Anmut and not him who was lying unconscious possibly meeting his fate? He had been the one selfishly trying to steal Arendelle from its noble ruler. He was the one who deserved punishment, not Anmut.

The door creaked open and Hans turned around briskly to find Elsa standing in its frame. She glided gracefully over to him, and rested her hand on his shoulder.

He brushed it off without a second thought.

"You're engaged to my unconscious brother." He informed her. "The least you can do is show him some respect while he's on his death bed."

"I'm sorry." Elsa muttered. "I had no intention of-."

"It doesn't matter what your intentions are." Hans growled. "Whether they are good or bad, you need to take responsibility for the outcomes of your actions."

Silence hung in the air with the weight of his words.

"Hans, we think we may have traced Aedan's location." Elsa told him slowly.

"I don't care." He huffed, staring at Anmut's closed eyes, half expecting them to pop open. "And to be frank I'm not really sure why you _do_."

"What are you so worked up abou-?"

"Elsa, my brother is dying and you are doing nothing about it." He spat.

"There is nothing I _can_ do."

"But you aren't even trying. Why don't you summon a doctor or someone?"

"We have." He heard her weight shift uncomfortably. "There is still hope that he will live." She stammered, but he could hear in her tone that she was lying and it infuriated him. "The doctors have said that he may pull through, but that all we can do is wai-."

"You've given up on him." His face was so hot that the tears in his eyes were burning him. "You don't care what happens to him."

"Hans, that isn't tr-."

"Yes it is." He yelled, standing up and facing her. "You only care about your precious little kingdom, and your precious crown."

Elsa, dumbstruck by his accusations, opened her mouth as if to speak but found no words.

"You think you're the only one who cares about family, Elsa? Well, I have a family too." His voice boomed down on her and he could feel the temperature dropping. "And as much as my brothers drive me insane, I love them. You won't even let me notify my parents that Anmut is injured."

"I don't want to scare anyone."

"Are you afraid people will find out who you really are Elsa?" He watched her gasp. "You don't want people to know that you are a _monster_?"

He knew he had gone too far and immediately regretted it when Elsa sunk to the floor, the carpet frosting over.

"I'm sorry I said that." He told her, wiping the tears away from his eyes and kneeling down beside her.

Elsa glanced up at him. "No." She said. "I'm sorry… For everything."

And suddenly they were kissing. He wasn't quite sure how they ended up with their lips intertwined but as soon as they touched, the ice around him and inside him evaporated.

Elsa pulled away slowly. "I needed that." She sighed.

Hans laughed. "Me too."

"Never again." She swallowed, flattening out her dress.

"Whatever you say…" He agreed with a hint of sarcasm.

She punched him in the shoulder.

-o-

Elsa slipped out of the doorway and walked slowly through the castle to Anna's room.

"Anna," She said, knocking on her sister's door. "I have something I need to tell you." She had made up her mind to come clean to Anna, with the hopes that maybe she could reconcile that relationship and be with Hans simultaneously. She knew that it was a long shot, but she would never know if she didn't try.

She heard a loud clang on the other side of the wall. "Just a second." Anna yelped frantically. The noises continued for a few more seconds. "Come in."

Elsa opened the door to find Anna sprawled out awkwardly on the bed, smiling a very strange and guilty smile.

"What's going on?" She asked immediately.

"Nothing." Anna replied a little too fast. "Why would anything be going on? There are no goings to be on in this house."

The clatter of falling things and a sound that was obviously a grunt came from Anna's closet and Elsa's eyes flew to the periwinkle door which was slightly ajar.

She walked gracefully over and opened the door to find a familiar looking large blonde man standing hunched over inside the closet which was clearly too small for him to fit in.

"Hello Christopher." Her voice slithered off of her tongue and the young man trembled under her glare.

"It-. It's Kristoff." He managed.

"Oh." She turned on her heal and walked a few paces away from the closet.

"Look Sir-." Kristoff started and stopped immediately realizing that he had just called a person who was most definitely a woman _sir_. Elsa spun around, completely offended, her eyes darkened. She thought for a second she might explode.

"Elsa," Anna began. "We were just-."

"I don't want to know." Elsa held up a hand and squeezed her eyes shut. "Just please tell me you didn't _do_ anything."

When there was no response she suddenly felt dizzy. There would be enough scandal in this royal family if anyone found out about her affair with Hans. She couldn't handle the idea of another scar on the family name.

"Nothing happened." Kristoff said quickly.

Elsa opened her eyes and looked up. "Do you swear?" She hissed.

Kristoff and Anna both nodded quickly.

"We were just talking." Anna told her.

"About what?"

"About what it would mean if we ran away together." Kristoff supplied.

And the dizziness was back.

"Kristoff!" Anna cried. "That was supposed to be a secret."

"Sorry, I can't lie to her she's like an _ice_ queen."

Everything around her was spinning. This was all too much to deal with. Not only did she have to figure out what to do about the man with fire powers who was out there kidnapping innocent people, her sister's husband who was in love with her, and her fiancé who was in a coma and who happened to be the brother of her sister's husband, _now_ she also had to repair the wreck that was her sister's love life.

She thought she was going to black out, but then instead a horrendous wave of nausea overcame her. She rushed to the nearest trashcan and-.

-o-

"Anmut, I have to tell you something." Hans took a deep breath. "Elsa and I, well… We are going to try to make things work. She just went to tell Anna and it's my job to tell you. I know that you thought you had something with Elsa but, the truth is that she and I-. She is in love with me… And I know that you're thinking I'm completely delusional thinking that this could ever, _ever_ work but it doesn't matter because if I can't have Elsa, than I certainly don't want to keep pretending with Anna. And I am going to come clean with Elsa just as soon as we sort this whole mess out. I am going to be honest about everything, from that night we shared together that she doesn't remember to the fact that I was originally a part of the conspiracy to kill her." He sighed and relaxed into his chair.

There was no response.

"Come on, you're really going to give me the cold shoulder?" He asked his brother. "Now? When I need you the most?"

He swallowed and stared at Anmuts blank expression, his closed eyes, his lips relaxed into a line.

"I really need my older brother right now." Hans said as if his words would somehow magically wake the unconscious man though he knew it was hopeless.

_Nothing._

"I've done a lot of stupid things and I don't know quite how to fix them." He muttered, placing his head in his hands.

"Like what?"

It was Elsa, her voice floated into the room like a feather.

He turned around slowly. "Oh, hello." A smile crept onto his face. He scooted over slightly on the chair and gestured toward the spot he had created. "Have a seat."

She obeyed and they squeezed together into the chair, her hips pressing into him in a very alluring manner. They sat in silence for a few moments until Hans placed his hand gently on Elsa's thigh.

Elsa shifted uncomfortably under his touch. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I haven't told Anna yet." She mumbled. "And until I do, we have to take a rain check on all of this _touching_."

Hans knew that if Elsa found out what he had done, she wouldn't let him touch her ever again. "Should we tell her together?"

"No." Elsa said quickly. "I need to apologize to her for lying to her and that is something I should do alone."

"What stopped you?"

Elsa hesitated. "I um… I fell momentarily ill."

"You fell _ill_?" Hans almost laughed at her formal tone. "Come on Elsa, I think we may be well enough _acquainted_ for you to elaborate."

"Fine." She sighed. "I became horribly dizzy then nauseous and I ended up… Spilling the contents of my stomach into a trash can." Her face was slightly red from embarrassment.

He furrowed an eyebrow. "Do you know what the cause was?"

"Nerves I'm guessing." She frowned. "Unless Aedan returned and somehow managed to sneak poison into my lunch today." He was shocked by her teasing tone of voice.

"Don't make jokes like that Elsa." Hans said flatly. "You know as well as I do that that isn't as unlikely as you make it seem."

"Hans, I'm fine. I went down to the kitchen, had a few sips of water and immediately felt better."

"I think you should still get checked out, just to be sure." He nudged her.

"I would, but there are more pressing matters that I have to deal with at the moment."

"Like what?"

"Like perhaps, the fact that somewhere in the wilderness there is an imminent threat to my kingdom and family in the form of a fire wielding sorcerer."

"Oh." Hans fixated his eyes on Anmut's face. "I had forgotten for a moment that we are in the midst of a war."

"We?" She inquired.

"Yes, we." He sputtered. "You and me and Anna."

"Oh, right." There was a long pause before she spoke again. "I have a plan."

"What's that?"

"I'm going to hunt him down. Alone."

He immediately spun to face her. "What?"

"I am going to-."

"No. I heard you." Hans's bit his lip. "You can't do that Elsa. You have no idea who you might be dealing with. It would be a suicide mission."

"Perhaps." Elsa conceded. "But I'm going to do it anyway."

"No, you're not. I won't allow it."

"You won't _allow_ it?" Her eyes flashed. "What authority do you have to keep me here?" She could be incredibly frightening when she wanted to be.

Hans cowered slightly under her glare. "I-. I care about you and I don't want you to-."

"It isn't your choice." She said firmly, standing up. As soon as she had risen to her feet she almost collapsed.

Hans leapt to his feet and grabbed her by the shoulders, steadying her. "What just happened?" He pressed.

"Nothing." She swallowed and he could tell she was lying.

"You had another dizzy flash didn't you?"

"No." She averted her eyes.

"I'm taking you to the hospital wing."

Elsa pushed his arms off of her. "I'm _fine_." She spat. "And I suggest you leave me alone if you don't want me to freeze you solid."

Hans held up his hands in surrender.

She blew a strand of runaway hair out of her face. "I don't think that I can tell Anna about us." She admitted finally. "It will break her heart. And I would rather die that hurt her."

Hans tried to force the lump that had risen in his throat down, but it wouldn't budge and he was unable to speak.

"And nothing _really_ wrong has happened between us, so I think it would be best if I just go."

Hans twisted his face. He had to tell her. "Elsa-."

"There is absolutely nothing you can say to make me stay." She gritted her teeth. "I'm going to turn myself in. It may be the only way to keep him from exposing me to the entire kingdom and it is probably the only way to keep the civilians, Anna and you safe."

"Or you could just tell everyone about your powers."

"No." Elsa cried. "That is not an option. I'll track down Aedan and fight him myself. If I win the kingdom will be safe, if I lose… I'll be dead and he'll have no reason to terrorize Arendelle anymore."

"He hasn't been terrorizing-." Hans tried to reason.

"There are a lot of things that have happened in the last week that I haven't told you about, Hans." Elsa explained sullenly.

"What?"

"People have been disappearing. Innocent civilians are being affected by this." She informed him coarsely. "I _have_ to do something."

"There has to be another way."

"There isn't."

-o-

There wasn't another way and she knew it.

She had only come to the conclusion of sacrificing herself for the sake of everyone else minutes earlier while she was washing her face after that unfortunate bout of sickness.

And since she had made the decision, she had not wavered from it for a moment. It was the only solution. Sure, it seemed like a brash and unwarranted choice to everyone around her, but they didn't know all of the circumstances.

She told her royal court that afternoon. She didn't explain everything to them, she merely informed them that she would be giving herself up to Aedan so that he would stop harming innocence. Their alarm was not a surprise to her, especially after Hans's reaction earlier that day.

That night, after drinking chamomile tea to calm her nerves and unsettled digestive system, Elsa climbed into bed and tried to read. She failed to concentrate however as the reality of her potential death sunk in.

Stop. She reminded herself that she didn't have feelings, that fear of the future and what it might hold was her enemy.

The door swung open without warning and in strolled Anna. Luckily, Elsa had somehow miraculously managed to keep her emotions in check and there were no icicles hanging from the ceiling when her sister entered.

"How are you feeling?" Anna questioned, sitting down at Elsa's bedside and placing a cold washcloth on her head.

"I'm alright, thank you." Elsa quickly removed the cloth from her head and placed it on the counter, knowing very well that it could easily turn to ice if it stayed there for too long.

"Well, you looked _awful_ this morning." Anna said. "I mean, um sick. You looked sick. That came out wrong. I just mean to say you looked like you needed someone to take care of you."

Elsa chuckled. "Well, it's kind of you to come take care of me." She smiled warmly as Anna replaced her mug of tea with a fresh one.

"No problem." Anna beamed. "I also wanted to apologize."

"No need Anna."

"Yes, there is a need." Anna insisted. "I should never have snuck Kristoff into my bedroom and I am so sorry you walked in on us. We were just…"

"I don't want to know." Elsa covered her ears.

"Elsa," Anna said, grabbing her hands off of her head and holding them for a brief second before Elsa yanked them away. "We already swore that nothing happened. There was no physical contact."

"Are you still planning on eloping?" Elsa asked pointedly.

"No, that was just one thought that we had. Very, _very_ briefly." Anna promised. "I could never bring myself to leave you now that our relationship is finally returning to how it was before…" She stopped there, but Elsa knew where she was going with the thought.

She had yet to inform Anna that she was planning on leaving in the middle of the night to find and confront her adversary. She bit her tongue to keep from blurting anything out.

Anna sat on the foot of the bed. "Remember when we were kids and we used to run around and play in the snow?"

Elsa nodded, not quite sure where Anna was going with this.

"And that one time we met that woman and her baby…"

"Yes…" Elsa squinted at her sister. "Where are you going with this?"

"And you said something along the lines of 'if only there was a baby in the castle for me to play with'." Anna stared wistfully out the window.

"You have a very distinctive memory." Elsa lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah. So anyway, do you still think it would be nice to have a baby around here?" Anna asked, glancing at the floor.

Elsa's eyes widened, suddenly realizing what Anna was implying. "Oh my god, Anna you're not…?"

"No!" Anna said quickly. "_I'm _not."

"Okay." Elsa started to turn back to her book.

"Elsa is there something you're not telling me?" Anna asked abruptly after a few seconds.

"No, why?" Elsa huffed, slightly irritated.

"Are you sure?" Anna stuck her face so close to Elsa's their noses almost touched.

"Yes." Elsa stated simply. "Now I would appreciate it if you wouldn't-."

"Are you pregnant?" Anna looked completely and utterly distraught.

Elsa was completely alarmed. "What? Where is this coming from?"

"Are you?" This was starting to feel like an interrogation.

"Where would you get an idea like that?" Elsa stuttered.

"Well, you and Anmut became engaged awfully speedy and I never believed any of that crap about Arendelle needing a king so I knew something was up." Anna explained. "And then when you got sick randomly I thought maybe-."

"Anna I'm not pregnant." Elsa cut her off quickly.

"Are you sure?" Anna looked skeptically at her. "You don't have to lie to me. I won't judge you if you are. I just want you to tell me about these kinds of things."

"It is literally impossible for me to be pregnant." Elsa informed her bluntly.

Anna bit her lip embarrassment coloring her cheeks slightly. "You mean you and Anmut didn't…?"

"No." Elsa laughed. "I would never. Can you imagine how big of a scandal that would be?" What she neglected to mention was the possibility that any child of hers might inherit her powers. She wouldn't wish such a curse on her worst enemy.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Anna apologized sheepishly. "I just thought-."

"I can understand why you would think that." Elsa giggled. "But I can one hundred percent guarantee you that there is absolutely no possibility that I am pregnant."

Anna finally relaxed onto the bed, laughing. "Oh my god, if you had been pregnant," She said, staring at the ceiling. "You and I would officially be the most messed up royal family in Arendelles history, what with my falling in love with another man while I'm already married."

Elsa pursed her lips, pondering whether now would be a good time to tell Anna everything that had happened in the last few months. She took a deep breath, remembering that this might be her last chance to tell the truth.

"You know," Anna yawned. "I'm really glad we can talk like this again. No more lies, no more secrets, no more hiding."

Elsa couldn't bring herself to speak the words that needed to be said. "Me too." She agreed, fixating her eyes on the ceiling,trying not to think about the fact that she would probably never see Anna again after tonight. "Me too."

-o-

Hans woke up the next morning, slumped over in the chair in his brother's bedroom. His back was aching as he stood up and checked Anmut's vitals, which were fine. Despite the fact that he was unconscious, he was still breathing and his pulse was steady.

"Hans?" He looked up, expecting Elsa, but found Anna leaning against the doorway.

"Hello, darling." He said solemnly, turning back to his brother.

"Do you want to come downstairs and eat breakfast with Elsa and me?" Anna asked cautiously. "It might be good for you to get out of this room for a little while."

"You're probably right." Hans admitted. "But, I'm afraid that he might wake for a millisecond while I'm gone and I won't be here to comfort him."

"The doctor said that if-." Hans winced and Anna quickly corrected herself. "_When_ he wakes up, he won't fall back asleep."

"Very well." Hans stood up, taking one last look at his brother before following Anna to the dining room.

They took the respective seats at the table and waited for Elsa. But Elsa didn't come. The second hand ticked loudly as they sat awkwardly next to each other. This was not how a husband and wife should act around each other, but Anna seemed very uneager to engage in any sort of physical contact.

"Where is she?" Anna asked, glancing at the clock, fidgeting with her napkin on the table.

At that moment as servant walked in with a silver platter covered in an assortment of breakfast foods and set it down in front of them. "Elsa asked that I give you this note." The man said, placing a sealed envelope on the table next to Anna's plate.

"Thank you, Dominik." Anna pealed open the letter and held it into the light so that she could read it.

Hans watched expectantly as Anna's eyes moved back and forth across the page, her smile slowly fading into a look of concern.

She finished the letter and looked up at him. "Did you know about this?" She waved the paper in his hand.

"About what?" She was getting angry, he could tell, and he wasn't quite sure why. Unless Elsa had told her about…

"That Elsa left in the middle of the night last night to go find and give herself up to Aedan." Anna's face was turning an angry shade of pink. "I can't believe that she would do that without telling me first."

"She's already left?" Hans asked standing up, feeling anger replace his confusion.

"You mean you knew?" Anna spat furiously, joining him on his feet. "Why didn't you try to stop her?"

"You don't think I tried to stop her? I did everything in my power to keep her from going. I-. We need her around here." Hans replied, clenching his teeth.

Anna started pacing. "We have to go and rescue her." She stated simply.

For once, he agreed completely with Anna's crazy idea. "You're absolutely right." He said.

"Well, come on then!" Anna grabbed his hand and yanked him over to the door, which she pried open.

Outside, they found a raging storm. Snow plummeted down from the sky at indescribable speeds, whooshing through the open door. Hans immediately shut the door.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea."

"Why not? It's only a little snow." Anna rang the bell to summon a servant. "We'll just get out coats and be on our way."

"It's a blizzard out there Anna. Maybe it would be better if I go find her."

"No." Anna shut him down stubbornly. "She's _my_ sister." Suddenly her eyes widened. "I know why she left."

"What do you mean? I know why she left too, she left to find Aedan."

"No." Anna shook her head. "She left because she's pregnant."

Hans scrunched her eye brows.

"She denied it as best as she could yesterday but I know better." Anna smiled triumphantly, then her face darkened. "She's pregnant and with Anmut sick she feels completely lost and alone and like she has no one to turn to so she is just giving herself and the baby up."

"Anna, that's insane." Hans gazed skeptically at her.

"We have to find her before she does something stupid."

"Now, that I agree with, but we should probably wait until the storm dies down." And then he realized something. It was summer and it was snowing. This storm was a product of Elsa's powers.

"I'm leaving now. She needs her sister." Anna informed him, crossing her arms. "Diamond, please fetch me my winter coat." She called to the servant who had appeared down the hall.

"Anna, if you go and something happens to you-."

"Then you'll be king." Anna said bluntly, putting her long billowing cloak on and turning her back to him. "Isn't that what you've wanted all along?"

What? How did she-? He was about to ask her but she turned and burst out the door, disappearing into the storm.

He peered out into the white flurry but she was nowhere to be seen. "Anna!" He cried. "Anna, come back here." He then turned back to the woman, Diamond, who was retreating to the servants quarters. "Wait." He cried and she stopped abruptly. "Will you bring me my winter coat?"

_**There you have it. I am missing a little bit of the angst that i usually like to have in this story, but i think it still works.**_

_**To be honest I am strongly considering deviating away from the structure of this and writing a part from Anna's POV, but then i thought maybe it would be cool to write a whole other story telling the same tale from the points of views of Anna and Kristoff. Which one do you think would be better?**_

_**I hope ya'll didn't stop reading because of what happened in the last chapter. I promise you, everything will maybe possibly work out... Actually i make no promises.**_

_**I have to be honest, I literally have no idea where this story is going. I have a habit of creating problems for characters **__**and then not really knowing how to fix them. So if you ideas, review or PM or write them on a tree outside my house(actually don't do that. if you knew where i lived that would be sort of weird).**_

_**Thanks guys. Ya'll are awesome. I hope you have enjoyed this roller coaster of a story so far and will stay with me because this is gonna be one helluva ride.**_

_**P.S. I don't **_**think_ I am going to make Elsa pregnant... But I wanted to keep the option open._**


	9. Chapter 9- A Stormy Afair

_**Hello, people. Here's another chapter. I have put a lot of thought into whether or not Elsa should be pregnant and... Just read.**_

Elsa was regretting her choice to make this trek on foot and not horseback. As soon as she had left the castle, it had kicked in what exactly she was doing. She was leaving everything behind, and though she knew it was for her own good, she couldn't help but get emotional. Before she could calm herself down these great dark clouds filled the sky and snow started pouring to the ground around her feet.

It was like the storm was following her, casting shadows over her path, blowing gusts of wind at her. And though the whirling ice and snow did create some obstacles in the forms of fallen trees and piles of white powder, she found that the cold wasn't bothering her. It was as though this storm was a part of her, a product of her powers.

As she stared ahead at the trees sagging under the weight of frost, she realized that this storm _was_ a product of her powers.

She had no idea where she was going but her feet seemed to know where she needed to be and they glided over the billowing white mounds carrying her body and her mind with them. As she reached a clearing in the trees she paused and glanced around.

How was she supposed to find this man, this man who had somehow managed to snatch up innocent civilians without being seen. Obviously, he wanted _her_ to find _him_ otherwise he would have already captured and tried to kill her. Could she really give him that satisfaction?

No. If he wanted to fight her, _he_ would have to find _her_. The storm died down and she found herself standing alone on the North Mountain, the one she had seen so many times from the window in the library. She glanced down at Arendelle, which she could barely make out and thought of Anna, who was probably eating breakfast, reading the letter she had left for her. She sighed and shook her head. There were certain things that it was better not to think about, she decided.

She sat down on the edge of a great cliff, dangling her feet into the vast nothingness below. Down below she saw a figure moving towards the bottom of the mountain. She squinted, then gasped and jumped to her feet. She would recognize that man's auburn hair anywhere.

When the horse broke into a gallop she knew that she had spotted her as well. She backed away from the edge until she could no longer see him.

The wind started to blow again. Snow fell down in what started out as a light flurry but quickly turned into a sheet of white flakes.

-o-

"Elsa!" His could feel his voice being carried away but the gusts of wind that pummeled him in the face.

He had been right. He had somehow miraculously remembered the view from that library window seat where this whole mess had started.

Her pale skin and hair blended in with the snow as she backed away from the mountains crest until all he could see was the sparkles of her tiara. But that was enough. He squinted through the fog at the reflection of the sun on the diamonds.

"Go away." He heard her voice come at him in every direction. How had she done that? How had she managed such a powerful command when she was so far away from him and when there was a raging storm in between them?

He was so, ungodly cold, with his gloves and boots soaked through and his hair completely disheveled from the powerful wind.

"Come on boy." He urged his horse. "Come on."

Sitron whinnied and stamped his hooves in the snow, but continued forward. "I said go away!" The voice boomed.

"Elsa please." He whimpered, not expecting her to hear him. "It's so cold."

The snow stopped, magically, and he could see again. He and Sitron trudged through the snow up the side of the mountain until he found himself only yards away from her. He dismounted the tired horse, his feet sinking into the snow so that it was almost up to his knees. He stared at her, marveling in the way she seemed to stand tall and erect, floating above the surface of the snow covered ground.

"Why did you come?" Though she was far away from him, her words traveled and it felt like she was whispering in his ear.

"I had to stop you." He shouted. "I couldn't let you do this." He started to walk towards her.

She backed away, towards the cliff. "Don't come any closer or I'll jump."

He stopped.

-o-

"Hans," She threw her voice across the empty space between then. "You saw what Aedan thinks of me. And he's right. The world would be better off without me. I was _going _to turn myself in. But maybe this would be faster." She closed her eyes, taking several steps backwards, extending her arms outwards on either side of her.

She could _feel_ that she was nearing the end of solid ground. She took a deep breath. Just a few more steps and it would all be over.

That was when two hands tackled her to the ground. Her eyes shot open and she found Hans completely on top of her, panting, pressing both of them downwards so that they were both completely submerged in the deep snow.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, her face centimeters away from his.

"I couldn't let you-." Hans choked out, his voice cracked and worn from shouting. "You know I couldn't let you jump."

She took a deep breath, soaking in the feeling of once again touching him. It felt like it had been an eternity since she had felt his heart beating against hers. She bit her lip before craning her neck ever so slightly in order to rest her lips against his, sliding her tongue into his mouth without delay. His fingers dug into her hips causing a sensation that was so utterly divine she moaned.

Her voice seemed to faze him, and he abruptly stopped caressing her. Though he did not remove himself from being perched on top of her, she could tell that something had shifted.

"What is it?" She asked. "I could be dead in the next hour this could be our last chance to-."

"Elsa." He stopped her, breathing heavily. "There is something I have to tell you."

"Whatever it is you want to tell me, it could not possibly be as important or as desirable as-."

"That night," He cut her off again, looking completely terrified. "That night a week ago-. The night you got poisoned. The night before you accepted Anmut's proposal…"

Elsa squinted at him, cupping his face in her hands and pulling his face to his, kissing him again and smiling, whispering onto his lips. "Hans, I hope I didn't say or do anything to disgrace myself in your presence, I did have an awful hang, over the next morning." She couldn't understand where all of this fear was coming from. What could he possibly say that would change her mind about him at this point in their relationship?

"Elsa, we slept together." Hans blurted.

Elsa felt her face drop. "We what?" She spat.

"We-."

"We slept together?" Her eyes widened in furry and everything around her seemed like it was turning red. She pushed him off of her and jumped to her feet.

He stood up as well, dusting the snow off of his pants. "I'm sorry."

"I can't believe that you didn't tell be you-. You-." She fought to find the right word. "You ass."

"I'm so sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough." She practically screamed despite how close they were together. "You-. You lied to me, manipulated me and now you expect us to just kiss and make up because you said you're _sorry_."

He didn't respond.

"I told you I couldn't do anything with you because of Anna. I specifically said-." She didn't know who to believe anymore. This was all too twisted for her to handle. "And then you take advantage of me when I'm drunk and have sex with me? You could get arrested for doing that! What the hell were you thinking?"

He opened his mouth.

"I'll tell you what you were thinking you idiot." She hissed. "You weren't thinking. You weren't thinking at all. You were letting yourself be controlled by your-. Your manly urges, your-. _Testosterone_."

"Honestly Elsa-."

"Shut up!" She shouted. "You have no right to talk to me after what you've done. You are an absolute-. Ugh, I don't even know how to describe you." She didn't care if she sounded like a five year old having a temper tantrum. "I could just punch you." Her face felt so hot with rage, as she realized very quickly that she could punch him. She reeled her fist backwards, knowing how good it would feel to have her gloved hand make contact with his annoyingly perfect face.

As her knuckles made contact with his chin, it hurt like hell. But it was worth it, to her what sounded like the shattering of his chiseled jaw bone.

The relief lasted about two seconds before she noticed that Hans was no longer standing in front of her. He was now struggling to regain his balance, teetering around strikingly close to the mountains edge.

"Hans!" She shrieked as he lost his balance and slipped.

She rushed and peered over the cliff to where Hans was dangling by one hand. She bent down to try and reach him but couldn't.

"Elsa, your powers." Hans called from below her. "Use your powers."

Elsa's eyes widened as she realized that might be the only way to save him. She stared at the empty space below her and concentrated with all her might, lifting her palms up to the sky and clenching her teeth.

Out of the abyss, rose a translucent blue block of _ice_. She could feel herself smiling with a hint of pride as the towering object grew upwards towards where Hans's hands were dangerously close to giving way. It stopped moving inches below his feet and he cautiously let go of the branch he was clinging to. The powerful ice didn't break under his weight or even budge as he landed on it.

Hans rubbed the face as she lifted her hands again to raise the platform a few feet more so that it was level with the side of the mountain. He stood there for a moment before starting to sway and almost falling over.

Elsa made sure that she was there to catch him and he collapsed into her arms.

"Thank god you're alright." She said into his ear.

"That was quite a punch." He teased.

"I haven't forgiven you yet." She informed him stubbornly, but as she brushed the hair out his eyes and gazed into them she could feel her fickle heartbeat speeding up.

"Isn't this supposed to be the other way around?" Hans wondered. "Isn't the prince supposed to save the princess?"

"Do you want me to punch you again?" She asked pointedly.

Hans shut his eyes nervously as if expecting her too then relaxed. "I only mean that, _I_ want to be the one protecting _you_, not the other way around."

They smiled at each other, and she adjusted her position so that it was easier to hold him.

_BANG._

-o-

The noise from the explosion started both of them out of their daze. Hans twisted his head sharply and winced as pain shot out in lightning bolts from his jaw.

He regained his balance and followed Elsa towards a deep hole where the now had melted away. She bent down and picked up a large brown stone from the ground. It was ordinary looking at a glance, but upon a more thorough observation Hans saw that there were glowing orange carvings in the flat side of the rock.

"What the?" He muttered in awe, peering over Elsa's shoulder. And that was when he realized the sketches were moving.

Etched on the surface, were moving pictures of a small group of people, all handcuffed to the wall behind them. Hans squinted and saw their pained expressions. It almost looked as if they were crying out for help. In the center of this crowd was a young woman with long hair braided neatly into pig tails. She had an unmistakably recognizable face.

Hans's jaw dropped, causing another jolt of pain.

"He's got Anna." Elsa whispered, her voice quivering. "How could he have captured her? The castle is guarded twenty four-seven."

"Who's got Anna?" Hans asked, knowing that he was being a complete dunce asking.

"Aedan of course." Elsa said quickly. "How did he even manage to get this thing to this spot without us seeing?"

"Well, we were a _bit_ distracted…" Hans reminded her, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Thanks for reminding me." Elsa turned the stone over. "I had forgotten that I hate you right now."

On the other side a series of blazing red letters read,

_I bet you recognize the one in the center. If you didn't allow me to enlighten you._

_It's your sister. The red headed one who you've kept things from for so long._

_As you can see, I am using your sister as bate. I want you to join me here in… Well, it'll be more interesting if I just let you figure out where I am._

_Anyhow, I suggest that you tell your boyfriend to keep his pants on so that you can focus on the task at hand,_

_Because if you do not turn yourself into me with in the next twelve hours, I will not hesitate to kill your sister and all the innocent civilians I have in my custody._

_I wish you two lovebirds the best of luck._

_Aedan_

"The nerve." Hans could almost feel his blood boiling. "What kind of monster is he?"

"We need to find him and rescue Anna before it's too late."

-o-

She turned and started to walk away from him, still clutching the rock in her hand as if it could somehow show her where her sister was. She could feel herself getting dizzy again. This was all her fault. Somehow she had managed to hurt Anna yet again because of her powers.

The ground started spinning and she stumbled a little, trying to catch her balance, as nausea washed over her. She took a deep breath and swallowed, trying not to keel over.

"Elsa are you alright?" Hans asked, sounding as if he were miles away from her.

Elsa clutched her head in her hands. "I'm fine, just a bit…"

_"Are you pregnant?"_ Anna had asked her during their last conversation.

She had honestly replied _"It is literally impossible for me to be pregnant."_

"Oh my god." Her mouth dropped open. Was it impossible?

"What?"

Elsa almost choked on her own tongue when she tried to get the words out. "I-. I might be-. Oh my god, this is bad. This is _so_ bad." She started pacing.

"What is?" Hans questioned obliviously.

Elsa stopped moving, clutched her midsection and glanced up at him as absolute terror filled her entire being. He was facing the other way, bent down studying the patch where the explosion had melted away the snow. "Hans-."

"Elsa!" He cried standing up and spinning around.

She swiftly removed her hands from where they had been resting and feigned composure, readjusting her eyes into an expression of confusion.

"I think I know where they are."

Her mind changed gears instantly. "Where?"

"Well, these stones, the ones that were used, obviously in addition to his fire powers, I've only ever seen them in one other place."

"Where?" She repeated.

"It's basically the opposite of here." Hans glanced around. "It's this deep underground cave just off of the coast of the fjord."

"Let's go." Elsa commanded, trying to forget the new potential dilemma that had just arisen rather unexpectedly.

As she glided over the snow, Hans trudging along beside her, she finally allowed her mind to wonder a bit. She let herself mull over the possibility of being-. Of having conceived-. Of becoming a mother.

_"There is no way, come hell or high water, that I will ever find myself carrying the child of my sister's husband."_ She had been so utterly offended by Anmut's suggestion, to think that he had seen it all coming caused her to grit her teeth in anger.

Worse, perhaps, then the fact that she could very well have another human being living inside of her, was the fact that she had absolutely no recollection of its conception. She glanced over at Hans for a moment, who was panting slightly and sweating from having to work so hard to travel through the piles of white fluff. Had that man's bare skin really been pressed up against hers only a week ago? She expected herself to shudder at the thought, but instead she felt heat rise into her cheeks as she tried not to picture it.

She had read enough romance novels to have a general idea of what kind of emotions people usually felt after… _it._ She felt oddly disappointed that she hadn't been given the opportunity to _experience_ them, or that if she had, she didn't remember.

What was she thinking? She silently cursed the terrifyingly improper side of herself that was rearing its ugly head. Yet, she couldn't really keep the incriminating thoughts from filling her mind. The idea of having shared something so intimate with Hans was almost as intoxicating as it was frightening. And perhaps, if she was-. She couldn't bring herself to consciously let the words float through her head. But if she _was_ then maybe Anna would somehow magically understand.

She shook her head at the thought. Anna would never forgive her, not after this. Everything up until now had been immoral but _this_-. This was complete and utter betrayal.

She let her eyes wander over Hans's body again and felt those lightning bolts course through her. She'd missed them.

But, no, she was furious with him. She wanted to smash his face in again, or better yet kick him in that place that had played a particularly large part in the events that had transpired between them. Upon thinking about doing this, her eyes traveled downwards unconsciously. She blinked, realizing she was staring.

Hans suddenly flinched and moaned.

"What?" She asked, tearing her eyes away.

Hans glanced awkwardly at her. "Um, nothing."

They continued walking and a few moments passed before Elsa finally spoke. "Do you know where you're going?"

"Yes." Hans said, his eyes directed straight ahead.

"Good." She sighed. "Because I don't have a clue."

"Elsa," Hans began. "Were you, um, _staring_ at me earlier?"

"I'm sorry, what?" She tried to sound surprised by the accusation.

"It's just." Hans frowned, not making eye contact. "I thought that I might have felt something."

"You felt something?" This was getting a bit strange.

Hans swallowed and scrunched his face as if searching for wrods. "It's just-. It was almost as if you were, um, touching me…" Her eyes widened and he added. "But you weren't."

"And what about that occurrence makes you think I was staring at you?"

"Well, a similar thing happened during my wedding."

Now she was starting to get mad again. "It did?" She raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Yes, it was when you watching me at the altar. I could almost feel your icy fingers running over my… Me."

Elsa squinted. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Elsa you were caressing me with your powers." Hans told her bluntly.

"I was what?"

"Maybe not on purpose but on accident, definitely." Hans wiped his hands on his pants.

"And why are you telling me this now?" She asked, still trying to process the idea that she could touch people using magic. It was rather unrealistic, but then again so was just about everything about her life.

"It's just…" Hans bit his lip. "It's rather difficult, er, for me, when you do _that_, especially after our night together."

"Which I don't remember." Elsa reminded him.

"And, um, I find it challenging to control myself. When you do that, it's as though you're dangling chocolate in front of my face and it smells so good and I can tell that it would just melt into my mouth but when I take a bit it turns out to be fake."

Elsa somehow couldn't manage to keep her mouth from running "So sex feels like eating chocolate?"

Hans chuckled. "Sometimes." He looked down at her. "Sometimes it feels even better."

Elsa huffed and crossed her arms again. "I'm still mad at you." She informed him.

"Good." Hans replied. "If you weren't I'd be worried about you." He smiled and rubbed her shoulder, causing that tingling sensation again.

Ugh, she was completely infuriated by her own desires to grab him and slam her lips against his.

The only think keeping her from doing so was the notion that he was still married, and the fact that at this point any sort of anything that they could do together at this moment other than walking would be a waste of time that they could use to find Anna.

So she swallowed her urges and watched the snow that had begun to fall slowly around them, trickling out of the sky and dotting his auburn hair with spots of white. His forehead was dotted with sweat and his determined expression emphasized the line of his jaw.

She sighed and forced her eyes not to look at him. Resisting was going to be more difficult then she originally thought.

_**So, I couldn't decide about the pregnant thing. So I am really going to look to you guys for answers. What do you think I should do? To have a pregnant Elsa, or not to have a pregnant Elsa? You can post reasons or just say yes or no. Because I can see it going either way.**_

_**One thing I do know is that the story won't revolve around what ever decision I make. It won't becomea story about whether or not she is pregnant.**_


End file.
